NEW YORK – In a battle of lefty aces, Max Fried and Garrett Crochet didn’t disappoint at Yankee Stadium, locked into a tense AL Wild Card Series opener.

Lifted after 6.1 scoreless innings, Fried’s one-run lead evaporated in a span of three Red Sox batters against Yankees’ reliever Luke Weaver.

Pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida’s seventh-inning, two-run single off Weaver sent Boston toward a 3-1 victory in the best-of-three series against MLB’s ancient rivals.

Old Yankee nemesis Alex Bregman added a breathing-room RBI double with two outs in the ninth off closer David Bednar, and ex-Yankee Aroldis Chapman registered the final four outs – the hard way.

After the Yanks opened the ninth with three straight singles, loading the bases, Chapman retired the next three batters – ending with a 101

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