Red Sox Tactical Moves Pay Off In Game One Win Over Yankees

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora had both Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman warming up in the eighth inning on Tuesday. Garrett Crochet allowed a base hit to Anthony Volpe with one out, but Cora left Crochet in to face Ben Rice.

Rice battled before eventually striking out on the 117th and final pitch of Crochet’s outing. With the right-handed hitting Jose Caballero coming to the plate, Cora curiously went to Aroldis Chapman, who induced a flyout to end the inning.

Cora stuck with his closer in the ninth inning, and Chapman secured the save. It wasn’t without hurdles, though. Each of the first three hitters singled, loading the bases with no outs. Even in a jam, the Red Sox left the bullpen mound unoccupied and entrusted the game to Chapman.

Chapman struck out Giancarlo Stanton and got Jazz Chisholm to fly out for the first two outs of the inning. He then struck out Austin Wells to save the 3-1 victory for the Red Sox. While only Aaron Judge hit the ball hard against Chapman, it was interesting to see Cora not even have Whitlock warm up for a potential appearance. It was all part of his plan, though.

“They’ve got some good left-handed hitters on the bench”, Cora said. “It’s something we talked about in preparation today before the game. Our lefties are really good — Wilson and Chapman and Matz — if there’s a chance that we can just keep their righties in the lineup and take out chances, we’re gonna do it.”

Ben Rice was the most notable lefty on the Yankees’ bench. He registered an .836 OPS and hit 26 home runs this season, but never entered the game because the Red Sox used left-handed pitchers exclusively. Chisholm started the game on the bench and had one at-bat, but never had the opportunity to face a right-handed pitcher.

On Wednesday, the Yankees will have a chance to start their lefties as Brayan Bello starts for the Red Sox. While he’s been excellent against New York this season, Cora likely won’t give him as long a leash as Crochet had. Given the opportunity, the Red Sox manager might try to force Aaron Boone to remove one of his lefties by calling on Matz or Wilson. Payton Tolle could also be a surprise ex-factor.

The Red Sox are just one win away from advancing to the American League divisional series to face the Toronto Blue Jays.