00:00Aaron Boone should take the blame for Yankees' loss.
00:04It's game one of the wildcard series at Yankee Stadium, and we already have a defining moment.
00:09One that might live on in the minds of Yankees fans for a long time, depending on how this series shakes out.
00:14Let's set the stage.
00:16Max Fried's not just pitching well, he's dominating.
00:20One out in the seventh, 102 pitches deep, and he's just made Jaron Duran look silly on a strikeout.
00:25And yet, here comes Aaron Boone striding out of the dugout.
00:30He's pulling his ace, in favor of Luke Weaver.
00:34This was about overmanaging in October.
00:36The kind of decision that makes your fanbase lose sleep and your critics say, see, same old Boone.
00:42Fried had gone over 102 pitches eight times this season.
00:45So he brings in Weaver to face Chidan Raffaella, a right-handed batter with a reverse split.
00:51Meaning he actually hits worse against lefties.
00:53Against Weaver?
00:54Two bombs and six at-bats.
00:57And it got worse.
00:58Weaver walked Raffaella, who almost never walks.
01:01Then Nick Sogar dumps a hit into right center, and knowing Aaron Judge's arm is still compromised from an earlier elbow injury, and never stops running.
01:10Turns a single into a double.
01:12That's pre-scout gold from the Red Sox staff.
01:15And you better believe Cora had that moment mapped out.
01:18Masataka Yoshida pinch hits for Rob Refsnyder.
01:20Boone, handcuffed by the three-batter rule, can't make a move.
01:24First pitch?
01:25Boom.
01:26Two-run single.
01:27Ball game.
01:28On the other side, Cora let Garrett Crochet go 117 pitches, more than any starter in the past six postseasons.
01:36Then he hands the ball directly to his closer, Aroldis Chapman.
01:40Old school and it worked.
01:42After the game, Boone tried to explain it away with lines like,
01:45They pressured him pretty good, and gave us what we needed.
01:49You don't pull your ace mid-dominance unless he's out of gas.
01:52And Freed wasn't.
01:53This was managerial overthinking at its finest, and it cost the Yankees game one.
01:59Sometimes you dance with the one who brought you.
02:02Boone left the dance early.
02:03Cora stayed on the floor, and walked out with the win.
02:06Cora stayed on the floor, and walked out with the win.
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