The Boston Red Sox kicked off their American League Wild Card series against the New York Yankees on Tuesday. Red Sox manager Alex Cora sent his ace, Garrett Crochet , out to face Max Fried in Game 1. The result was a dominant Boston postseason debut for Crochet, who cruised through 7.2 innings. The one run scored on him was by Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe .

Crochet has been an AL Cy Young candidate all season long . However, he ramped his pitching up to another level in the playoffs. After struggling to handle the Yankees offense early in the game, the veteran settled in quickly. He finished with 11 strikeouts while giving up just one hit. He left the game without a lead, but Masataka Yoshida gave the Red Sox a 2-1 advantage.

Crochet's 11 strikeouts put him in elite company

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