Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. If the Yankees lose this series against the Red Sox, will they finally fire Aaron Boone?
In today’s SI:AM:
🗣️ Napheesa Collier’s strong statement
🗽 Boone to blame?
🪨 Dwayne Johnson on his new role
If you’re reading this on SI.com, click here to subscribe and receive SI:AM directly in your inbox each morning.
Pitchers’ duels galore
The first day of the MLB playoffs is a time for the best pitchers in the sport to shine. And on Tuesday, they did.
Among the starters in yesterday’s games were a two-time Cy Young winner (Blake Snell); last year’s Cy Young winner, who appears poised to add another this season (Tarik Skubal); this season’s leader in wins (Max Fried); and the MLB leader in strikeouts (Garrett Crochet). All of them pitched brilliantly in their Game 1s. Add in Guardians starter Gavin Williams and five of the eight starting pitchers in yesterday’s games went at least six innings and allowed two runs or fewer.
The best of the bunch was Skubal, which should come as no surprise. Skubal is the favorite to win the AL Cy Young after leading the league in ERA this season (2.21, behind only Paul Skenes’s 1.97 for the MLB lead) and had one of the best games of his career in Game 1 against the Guardians. He pitched 7 ⅔ innings and struck out 14 batters, a career high and tied for the most in Tigers postseason history. He allowed three hits and three walks and surrendered just one run. The lone run was scored in the fourth inning, thanks to a walk and a pair of infield singles.
Skubal buckled down after that, though, retiring the next 10 batters he faced. He saved his best stuff for last, too. Skubal threw 11 pitches of at least 100 mph, five of which came in the seventh inning. Skubal had never before thrown more than five pitches at or above 100 mph in a single game in his career. Detroit went on to win, 2–1, as Will Vest earned a four-out save.
“Tarik set an incredible tone for us,” manager A.J. Hinch said after the game. “He’s been incredible all season, but what a performance at the biggest moments on the biggest stage to get us in a great position to win the game.”
Crochet, Skubal’s main competition for the AL Cy Young, was equally brilliant for the Red Sox in their 3–1 win over the Yankees. He allowed one run on four hits over 7 ⅔ innings and struck out 11. The lone blemish was Anthony Volpe’s solo homer in the second inning. After that, Crochet retired 17 batters in a row before Volpe broke the streak with a single in the eighth. Crochet then struck out Austin Wells for the second out of the eighth, setting the stage for Aroldis Chapman to close out the game with a four-out save. (Things got a little hairy for Chapman in the bottom of the ninth when he loaded the bases with three straight singles to the first three batters in the Yankees lineup, but he escaped the jam.)
Crochet, in just his second season as a starter, threw a career-high 117 pitches. He had 100 pitches through seven innings, but Boston manager Alex Cora decided to bring him back out to start the eighth. Crochet made his manager look smart, not only continuing the scoreless streak but also throwing his fastest pitch of the night on his final pitch of the night (a 100.2 mph sinker to strike out Wells).
“With them leaving me in there, I wanted to honor that decision. I felt like [Cora has] put a lot of faith in me this year, and I haven’t let him down yet,” Crochet said. “So I was going to be damn sure this wasn’t the first time.
“I feel like in this environment it is hard to feel any sort of fatigue beyond mental. Up until that point I was incredibly locked into the game, especially right after we took the lead. There was a lot at stake, so it kept me locked in and engaged the whole time.”
Crochet’s counterpart, Fried, was also excellent, but the Yankees’ decision to have him attempt to go deeper into the game may have been costly. Fried went 6 ⅓ innings and did not allow a run on four hits and three walks. He had 99 pitches through six innings and manager Aaron Boone sent him back to the mound to start the seventh. Fried got Jarren Duran to ground out for the first out of the inning and then was pulled in favor of Luke Weaver. That’s where things started to unravel for the Yankees. Weaver walked the first batter he saw, Ceddanne Rafaela, then gave up a hustle double to Nick Sogard. Masataka Yoshida’s single drove in two runs and gave the Red Sox a lead they would not surrender.
In the final game of the night, Snell stepped up with a stellar outing for the Dodgers in their 10–5 win over the Reds. He allowed two runs on four hits with nine strikeouts and a walk over seven innings of work—the first time in his postseason career that he’s pitched at least seven innings. Snell is obviously a tremendous pitcher, but the main knock on him is that he doesn’t go deep into games the way other aces might. In 87 regular-season starts over the past four years, he’s only pitched at least seven innings 11 times.
If the Dodgers are going to repeat as champions, they’re going to need to get length out of their starters. The Los Angeles bullpen has been a disaster lately, and last night was no exception. The Dodgers led 10–2 when Snell was pulled from the game and their relievers immediately got into trouble. Alex Vesia, Edgardo Henriquez and Jack Dreyer combined to allow three runs on two hits and four walks in the top of the eighth. That trio needed a combined 59 pitches to get out of the inning.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- Tom Verducci breaks down why Aaron Boone’s missteps cost the Yankees in Game 1, as the New York manager was outwitted by Boston’s Alex Cora.
- Jon Wertheim goes inside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s most transformative role yet—his physical and emotional turn as MMA fighter Mark Kerr in The Smashing Machine.
- Emma Baccellieri reports from Las Vegas on the Fever’s magical run, an improbable journey that ended in overtime of Game 5 and lasted far longer than expected.
- Napheesa Collier’s pointed statement has amplified growing frustrations around WNBA officiating. With CBA talks looming, Emma Baccellieri writes about the concerns now emanating from players and coaches.
- Sports Illustrated’s preseason Top 25 countdown continues—at No. 23, a program with talent and continuity but real questions about coaching and defense.
- The U.S. came up short again in the Ryder Cup, and while Keegan Bradley is in the spotlight, responsibility for the loss extends further, Bob Harig argues.
- At 36, Travis Kelce isn’t fading quietly. The Chiefs have unlocked a formula that lessens their reliance on him but maximizes his efficiency and keeps him central to their playoff push, writes Greg Bishop.
The top five…
… plays from the first day of the MLB playoffs:
5. The comical sound of a foul tip breaking one of the ESPN cameras.
4. Seiya Suzuki’s game-tying homer for the Cubs. Suzuki has now homered in five straight games.
3. Garrett Crochet’s perfect fastball on the inside corner for his final out of the night.
2. Shohei Ohtani’s second homer of the night, a 454-foot blast.
1. The Tigers’ squeeze bunt for the go-ahead run against the Guardians. We’re still playing small ball in 2025!
This article was originally published on www.si.com as SI:AM | Ace Pitchers Step Up as MLB Playoffs Begin.
