In keeping with yesterday’s theme, it’s time to turn the page.

In some ways, Game 1 went exactly as hoped. Max Fried was excellent and Aaron Judge had a couple hits, but that was about it. The Yankees couldn’t have expected to get much off of Boston ace Garrett Crochet, so when Anthony Volpe’s line drive settled into the right field seats to give the Bombers a 1-0 lead in the second inning, there was hope. When Fried retired Jaren Duran for the first out in the seventh and left with that same 1-0 lead, I even found myself counting outs.

And of course, that’s when everything went south. Luke Weaver had Ceddanne Rafaela in an 0-2 hole, but walked him, then gave up a bloop hit to Nick Sogard on a ball that landed short of the right field gap between Judge and Trent Grisham. Sogard never broke stride as he rounded first and slid into second ahead of a throw from Judge that was… not what you’d expect from a right fielder. When Red Sox manager Alex Cora was asked about the play after the game, he was blunt but seemed reluctant to criticize the Yankee captain. “That was preparation.” What he didn’t say was, “We know Judge is compromised right now and we’re going to run on him every chance we get.”

Regardless, the Red Sox had men on second and third with one out, and suddenly it felt like more than just the game was on the line. Pinch hitter Masataka Yoshida only needed to see one pitch. He laced a fastball into center field, and both runs scored. Weaver, who has sometimes looked like the dominant closer of the 2024 World Series run and sometimes not, faced just the minimum three hitters in his outing. He walked the number eight hitter, gave up a double to the nine, and then the two-run single to the pinch hitter.

An added insurance run in the top of the ninth loomed large when the Yankees mounted a rally against Boston in the bottom of the ninth against the suddenly unhittable Aroldis Chapman. Paul Goldschmidt flipped a base hit into right field, bringing Judge to the plate as the tying run.

The best hitter in baseball was striding to the plate to face possibly the best pitcher in baseball in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the confrontation didn’t last as long as it took you to read this sentence. Judge looked at a 100mph fastball and sent it back through the box and into centerfield at 116mph. It wasn’t a game-tying home run, but it was a small victory.

Clay Bellinger followed Judge’s hit with another one-pitch at bat, dumping a single into the left-centerfield gap to load the bases with none out.

In that moment, with Postseason Giancarlo Stanton striding to the plate, ESPN pegged the Yankees’ win expectancy at 49.4%. (It had been 8.7% at the start of the inning.) But Stanton struck out, Jazz Chisholm, Jr., popped out to right, Grisham struck out, and Chapman struck his usual triumphant pose on the mound.

And in case you’re wondering, this was the first time in postseason history that a team had loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth and failed to score.

As you’d expect after a game like this, there was plenty of drama in the aftermath as questions abounded. Should Aaron Boone have pulled Fried after just 102 pitches? Should Chisholm, Jr., have been in the starting lineup? Is Judge’s arm at full strength?

Regardless of where you come down on any of these questions (my answers: I guess so, yes, and obviously not but I don’t care), what’s done is done. And even though being down 0-1 in a best of three series is not what you want, I still feel good about this team’s chances. I honestly think Rodon will be great tonight, and I think the Yankees have finally figured out Brayan Bello. If they win tonight — and they will win tonight — I have faith in Cam Schlittler on Thursday night. I still feel good!

Let’s go, Yankees!