NEW YORK — When a battle for the aces in the offseason evolved into a battle of the aces on the opening day of the postseason, the Red Sox emerged victorious — again. “I felt like [manager Alex Cora has] put a lot of faith in me this year, and I haven’t let him down yet,” Crochet said. “So I was going to be damn sure this wasn’t the first time.”

Garrett Crochet was in Boston's dugout on the day before the playoffs began when manager Alex Cora picked up the phone to the bullpen to contact a member of the front office. “`Tomorrow you’re going to make one call to the bullpen,

Aaron Boone was ready to celebrate this wild-card series win — and extol the play of his team. The Yankees beat the Red Sox, 4-0, in a winner-take-all Game 3 over the Red Sox in The Bronx on Thursday night,