Crochet shoves, Chapman has last laugh | 7 observations from Yankees’ crushing loss to Red Sox

NEW YORK — During the final homestand of the regular season, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said his bullpen was as settled heading into the playoffs as it had been all year.

After months of his relievers bouncing between different roles, with key pieces on the injured list and new faces from the trade deadline adjusting to pinstripes, Boone finally had a road map that he believed he could rely on in the postseason.

So much for that.

Ace Max Fried tossed 6 1/3 shutout innings in Tuesday night’s Wild Card Series opener against the Red Sox, but when Boone summoned Luke Weaver — one of his best set-up options and a hero from last October — it immediately backfired.

Within three batters, the right-hander turned a 1-0 lead into a 2-1 deficit.

Then, Boone had to watch as Boston’s bullpen took care of business to close out a Red Sox win. Garrett Crochet shoved — he got the win, firing in 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball — and Aroldis Chapman, who had a career year in his age-37 season, closed it out with a four-out save where the Yankees loaded the bases with no outs but could not score.

Boston won 3-1 and the Yankees are now on the brink of elimination, one loss away from an abrupt playoff exit.

Weaver simply wasn’t as effective this year. On Tuesday night, he had Ceddanne Rafaela in a 0-2 count and lost the speedster, walking him on 11 pitches. Rafaela had six foul balls in that at-bat. Red Sox No. 9 hitter Nick Sogard followed with a base hit to center that he turned into a double with an aggressive and risky play. And then pinch hitter Masataka Yoshida delivered the decisive blow, a go-ahead, two-run single to center.

Alex Bregman’s RBI double to left off closer David Bednar in the ninth gave the Red Sox even more of a cushion. And after the Yankees loaded the bases with their backs against the wall in the ninth, the next three hitters went quietly against Aroldis Chapman, much to the chagrin of a rowdy crowd in the Bronx.

Here are some more thoughts from the Yankees’ loss to the Red Sox that puts their season on the brink.

Only one answer for Garrett Crochet

Fried was brilliant for the Yankees, but Crochet was even better.

From Anthony Volpe’s solo home run to right field in the second inning through his base hit with one out in the eighth, Crochet retired 17 Yankees in a row. He finished with 11 strikeouts and only four hits allowed with zero walks, and it seemed like he barely broke a sweat.

The Yankees’ failure to capitalize on back-to-back singles leading off the first inning came back to haunt them. Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge both smacked sharp singles to left within the first four pitches of the game. The crowd at Yankee Stadium was bumping and the middle of the meat of the Yankees’ order had a chance to set the tone and jump in front.

Cody Bellinger struck out and Giancarlo Stanton hit the ball hard, but right to Trevor Story at shortstop for an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

A chance to make right in the ninth

It was déjà vu going back to that first inning against Crochet when the Yankees came up in the bottom of the ninth.

Goldschmidt and Judge attacked early, putting two runners on base.

This time, the Yankees kept the momentum. Bellinger drove a single to left-center to load the bases.

But even with the tying run on second and the winning run on first, that was as close as the Yankees got.

Stanton struck out swinging.

Jazz Chisholm Jr., who entered late in the game on defense, flew out to shallow right field.

Grisham struck out swinging, his fourth strikeout of the night.

The Yankees finished the game 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.

Platoon options didn’t hurt, but barely helped

A big pregame discussion was the Yankees’ starting lineup and how they put the likes of Goldschmidt, Amed Rosario and José Caballero in the lineup over Ben Rice, Chisholm and Ryan McMahon.

Other than that Goldschmidt single to lead off the game, those three hitters were 0-for-7 against Crochet. Rosario, who entered Tuesday night with the best numbers against Crochet of any Yankee (6-for-9 in his career) was 0-for-3 with three groundouts.

Meanwhile, Grisham, who started despite the challenging left-on-left matchup, was hitless with three strikeouts against Crochet.

Give Caballero and Rosario credit, though. They stepped up on defense. Chisholm and McMahon are better at their respective positions, but with Fried on the mound — inducing a slew of grounders throughout his outing — those two bench bats made all the plays. Caballero charged and made a tough play on an Alex Bregman chopper to help strand two runners on base in the fifth and then Rosario made an unassisted double play up the middle the next inning to end the sixth.

Expect Chisholm, McMahon and Rice back in the lineup in Game 2 with right-hander Brayan Bello on the mound for Boston.

Allowing Garrett Crochet to go deeper

We’ve already walked through Crochet’s outing, but his seventh frame was particularly important.

Crochet’s pitch count was over 90 heading into that frame, so the Yankees were getting close to knocking him out, but with Bellinger, Stanton and Rosario due up, the left-hander delivered one of his best innings of the game.

It took Crochet only six pitches to get through those three hitters and while both Stanton and Rosario got good wood on the ball, those plays to the left side of the infield were routine for Boston.

That gave Red Sox manager the chance to use Crochet for another two outs in the eighth. He struck out Grisham and, after the Volpe single, struck out Wells. Chapman entered and got Caballero to fly out to right and end the threat — with Volpe in scoring position after advancing to second on an unsuccessful third pickoff move.

Max Fried lived up to the hype

ESPN cameras kept cutting to Fried in the dugout as Weaver allowed the Yankees’ lead to vanish in the seventh.

This loss isn’t on him, though. Far from it. He did his job and then some in his Yankees playoff debut. And he received a well-deserved standing ovation when he came off the mound with one out in the seventh.

Fried threw 6 1/3 shutout innings with six strikeouts, four hits and three walks. The walks were debilitating for the left-hander in the middle innings as it spiked his pitch count and slowed him down. But every time Fried worked into trouble, he was able to get out the jam.

The left-hander doesn’t typically show emotion on the mound, but he slapped his glove as he spun toward the dugout in the fourth when he struck Jarren Duran out with runners on second and third. That was a prime opportunity for the Red Sox to capitalize on a blooper from Nate Eaton that flew over Goldschmidt’s head and into shallow right field, advancing Carlos Narvaez to third. Fried was behind 3-0 to Duran, but he landed two called strikes and then got him to chase on a sweeper above the zone.

Anthony Volpe carried the Yankees on offense

Crochet’s pitch to Volpe on the home run in the second was a bad miss. Narvaez set up off the inside corner and Volpe made contact on a heater in a two-strike count that was almost at the black on the outside corner.

But it was just as much of a good piece of hitting by Volpe to pounce on the mistake and drive it over the short porch in right.

The way Volpe took his eye off the ball and pointed to the Yankees’ dugout was reminiscent of Stephen Curry turning after shooting a three-pointer for the Warriors, knowing it was going in.

Volpe’s production at the plate has been a story all year long for the Yankees. He’s been dealing with a partial labrum tear, but since his cortisone shot that he had late in the season, he’s been much better at the plate. Tuesday night will go down as one of his best performances of the year, accounting for half of the Yankees’ four hits against Crochet, the presumptive Cy Young Award winner in the American League.

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