NEW YORK -- Missed opportunities. The New York Yankees lost Game 1 of the Wild Card Series to the Boston Red Sox because their bullpen, shaky all year, let a one-run lead slip away, but the loss was bookended by missed opportunities.

In the first inning Tuesday, Paul Goldschmidt and Aaron Judge greeted Garrett Crochet with back-to-back singles. The Yankees led baseball with 113 first-inning home runs during the regular season and set an MLB record with 50 first-inning home runs, and they were positioned to get on the board early, or at least make Crochet work to get his first three outs.

Instead, Cody Bellinger struck out on four pitches and 2024 postseason hero Giancarlo Stanton grounded into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play on the fifth pitch of his at-bat. An innin

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