There’s no doubt that Garrett Crochet has really been a nightmare for the Yankees. For the unversed, he’s 3-0 against them with a 2.90 ERA and 45 SOs over just seven appearances, and he doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Why? In their latest postseason matchup against the Red Sox, Crochet racked up 11 SOs over 7.2 innings, giving up just one run. And he looked like he was getting stronger as the game went on. So, it’s almost expected at this point that he dominates the Yankees.

But Aaron Judge pointed out that they still haven’t figured out how to handle him, even though they’ve had a top-tier ace in their rotation, too. The Yankees are headed back to the postseason, and while Gerrit Cole isn’t on the roster this year, Max Fried has stepped in and done a solid job filling the gap. But Aaron Judge thinks they’re failing him.

“It’s a tough one, especially when he comes out there and does his job… We’ve got to be able to put a couple more runs in there,” Judge shared how it was tough to let the away despite Fried’s masterclass.

Well, it’s surely tough for the fans also to witness how the Yankees blew their lead over the Red Sox.

In the game, Fried gave the Yankees just what they needed in Game 1 of the AL wild-card series. He took a one-run lead into the seventh with a strong outing. But once the bullpen came in, things unraveled fast. And the Red Sox flipped the game on its head, handing New York a tough 1-3 loss in the Bronx.

The offense didn’t do much to back them up either. Giancarlo Stanton, usually a big-time October threat, went down on four pitches in a key spot. Jazz Chisholm Jr., who came in during the eighth, had a chance to drive in Paul Goldschmidt but flew out too shallow to right. The lone bright spot? Anthony Volpe, who struggled for much of the regular season, got his postseason started in style with a solo homer.

The Yankees’ wrong decision is to blame for the loss

The Yankees’ loss in Game 1 wasn’t just about the bats going cold or the bullpen faltering. Rather, it also came down to a questionable call from manager Aaron Boone. If you have checked the game, you know the dominance of Fried all night, throwing 6.1 scoreless innings while scattering only four hits and striking out six.

But in the sixth inning, Boone went to the bullpen, and that decision ended up shifting the game.

At that point, the Yankees were clinging to a 1-0 lead. Once Fried exited, though, Luke Weaver came in and immediately ran into trouble. Masataka Yoshida lined a two-run single to put Boston on top, 2-1. And the momentum completely swung in the Red Sox’s favor. And guess what, the Yankees never recovered.

They did have one last chance in the ninth, loading the bases with nobody out, but couldn’t cash in. The Red Sox escaped and walked away with a 3-1 win. And New York was left to wonder what might have been if Boone had trusted his ace a little longer. And as expected, with this latest move backfiring in October, the spotlight on his managerial choices is only going to get brighter.