NEW YORK — Carlos Rodon watched Garrett Crochet debut as a promising hard-throwing reliever while they were teammates with the Chicago White Sox in 2020 and 2021.
A lot has changed for both left-handers since, as Crochet is now the Boston Red Sox’s staff ace and Rodon was an All-Star with the New York Yankees this season.
Crochet dominated Game 1 of the Red Sox’s American League wild-card series against the Yankees. Now it’s Rodon who will be pitching to prevent New York from being ousted in the best-of-three series on Wednesday.
The Red Sox opened the series by getting a dominant performance from Crochet, who allowed just one run — on a second-inning homer by Anthony Volpe — among four hits in 7 2/3 innings. Crochet retired 17 straight after Volpe went deep and threw the last of his 117 pitches at 100 mph for his 11th strikeout.
Rodon will be pitching after the Yankees attempted to stage a late comeback against their former closer, Aroldis Chapman, by loading the bases with no outs. Chapman escaped with a strikeout, a flyout and another strikeout.
“We have been playing these types of games for a while now,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after his team went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and struck out 13 times. “We have been playing with a lot on the line seemingly every single day. Tonight was a great baseball game that we just couldn’t get that final punch in. So we will be ready to go, and I expect us to come out and get one tomorrow.”
Rodon will take the mound after holding opponents to an AL-best .188 batting average while setting a career high with 18 wins.
Rodon went 7-2 with a 2.43 ERA in his last nine starts, which included 5 2/3 innings of one-hit ball in a 7-2 home win over Boston on Aug. 24 that started New York’s 25-8 run to finish the season. He was 1-2 with a 5.74 ERA in three starts against the Red Sox this season and is 5-6 with a 4.28 ERA in 12 career starts vs. Boston.
Rodon pitched four times in the postseason for the Yankees last season, going 1-2 with a 5.60 ERA.
“I learned a lot about staying within myself and just trying to keep, you know, everything in check,” Rodon said. “So hopefully I can keep that going for this year.”
Brayan Bello, who finished 11-9 and posted career-best figures in ERA (3.35) and innings (166 2/3), will make his postseason debut for Boston on Wednesday. The right-hander was 0-3 with a 5.79 ERA in his final three starts of the season.
Bello will face a different Yankees lineup, as Boone figures to insert three left-handed hitters. Ben Rice likely will start at first base, Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second and Ryan McMahon at third.
“We have a tough one tomorrow again,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. “Rodon has been amazing throughout this season. They are obviously going to have their left-handed hitters in the lineup. We have Brayan, who likes it here, pitched well here throughout his career. I expect the game to be just like this one.”
One of Bello’s losses in the final weeks came against the Yankees in Boston on Sept. 13, when he allowed four runs on five hits in five innings. He is 5-4 with a 2.35 ERA in 11 career starts against New York, including 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA in three outings vs. the Yankees this year.
In five lifetime outings at Yankee Stadium, Bello is 3-1 with a 1.44 ERA in five starts.
“I feel like as soon as you step on the field, you feel the pressure from the fans, even when you are in the bullpen and you go to the mound,” Bello said through a translator on Monday. “For me, nothing changes preparation-wise, but I feel like that extra pressure from the fans and from everybody, it gets me going.”
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media
