NEW YORK -- Considering the stakes and the opposing pitcher (Max Fried), Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium seemed like a night that Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet couldn’t afford to so much as blink.

Well, he did just once, when Anthony Volpe took him deep for a solo shot in the second. But never after that. Boston’s power lefty retired 17 in a row following the homer by Volpe.

In his first career postseason start, Crochet turned in a brilliant performance (7 2/3 innings, four hits, no walks, 11 strikeouts) that led the Red Sox to a 3-1 victory over the Yankees in Game 1 of this best-of-three AL Wild Card Series.

The lefty punctuated his career-high, 117-pitch performance with a 100.2-mph heater, his fastest of the night, to get Austin Wells looking.

Teams who win Game 1 are 18-2 in the

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