For a while on Tuesday night, everything was going swimmingly for the New York Yankees. Max Fried was fully locked in and dealing. Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge opened the first inning with back-to-back singles. And before Boston Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet had settled into a dominant outing (featuring 17-straight retired batters), Anthony Volpe had already snuck in a 382-foot solo shot to right field in the second inning off of the lefty.
With the way that Fried was pitching, an early 1-0 lead for New York felt as comfortable as a 1-0 lead can feel during an anxiety-inducing Game 1 of a three-game Wild Card Series.