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 changed everything for the Red Sox that day in February when he showed up at Spring Training, two months after chief baseball officer Craig Breslow struck with a clutch trade in which

Two Boston outfielders and the second baseman failed to catch a high pop-up to center by Cody Bellinger, allowing him to end up with a leadoff double. Amed Rosario plated the game’s first run with a single to left, and Anthony Volpe’s bases-loaded single to right scored another run.

Garrett Crochet led the Boston Red Sox to a 3-1 victory over the New York Yankees in their AL Wild Card Series opener