Good morning! Clinch your series today.

Pulse Power Rankings: Multiple WNBA dramas highlight frenzied day

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There are not many days in which we start this newsletter by saying, “I have to just tell you everything that happened yesterday.” Yesterday, however, was so good that we’re going to do exactly that. 

Consider this a power ranking of Monday’s incredible playoff action, starting with the WNBA stealing the spotlight: 

1. The Aces are back in the WNBA Finals, barely

For the third time in four seasons, the Las Vegas Aces will play in the finals. It’s an expected outcome after a most unexpected, bonkers game last night. 

The Aces and Fever played to overtime in a Game 5 classic, with Vegas only separating after Indiana lost Kelsey Mitchell to injury and Aliyah Boston to foul trouble. The Aces were clearly the better team, but anyone watching last night’s game came away equally impressed with a Fever team that’s been through a lot this year. To come five minutes from reaching the finals after all that is almost unbelievable. 

The W also soaked up an entire news cycle’s worth of headlines yesterday outside of the exquisite game: 

Minnesota Lynx superstar Napheesa Collier said the league has the “worst leadership in the world” in a prepared statement during a news conference. Collier was largely referencing some pain points with game officials, who became a focal point after Collier suffered an ankle injury in Game 3 of Minnesota’s semifinal loss to Phoenix. Collier and Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve were furious with the lack of a foul call. Read Collier’s full statement here.

Collier also referenced ongoing negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, which seem like a mess at this point. Kelsey Plum said yesterday the league is stalling. Plum and others agreed with Collier that the league needs new leadership, too. Tough day for commissioner Cathy Engelbert.

Oh, and the finals begin Friday. I asked Ben Pickman for his early read on the matchup: 

“This series has a fascinating frontcourt matchup as the Mercury have reached the WNBA Finals in large part because of their star bigs, Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally, while the Aces are led by four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson. How the two coaches try to defend each team’s frontcourt will go a long way in determining who takes home the title. Bonus interesting question: Can the Aces re-ignite any dynasty talk by winning a third title in four years?”

2. Shohei Ohtani went nuclear

In baseball’s nightcap, the Dodgers took a 1-0 series lead over the Reds with a 10-5 win, fueled by Shohei Ohtani’s two home runs. L.A. hit five dingers in the game, and this one felt over quickly. Look how quickly his leadoff homer got out:

Welcome to the SHO 💥

🎥 @MLB | #Postseasonpic.twitter.com/JJH4dVGwty

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) October 1, 2025

Dude might be pretty good. Let’s take a quick news break before returning to the rankings:

News to Know

Wild sign Kaprizov after all

The Minnesota Wild agreed to a record eight-year, $136 million extension with superstar Kirill Kaprizov, the richest in NHL history by both total salary and average annual value ($17 million). It comes three weeks after the 28-year-old Kaprizov declined to sign an eight-year deal worth $128 million, which many thought could lead to Kaprizov hitting free agency next summer. Instead, Minnesota secured its future.

More news

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni insists A.J. Brown wants to be in Philadelphia despite some cryptic social posts yesterday.

In other WNBA news: The league agreed to an 11-year media rights deal to air games on USA Network. Read more here.

The Jonathan Kuminga saga is over in Golden State. The 22-year-old agreed to a two-year, $48.5 million contract yesterday. Full details here.

Golf legend Tom Watson was “ashamed” of the American Ryder Cup crowds. See his comments.

The Angels will also be searching for a new manager after announcing yesterday that Ron Washington will not return.

Chris Koras, head of baseball for the Klutch Sports agency, abruptly resigned last week.

A warning given to Daniil Medvedev at the China Open about his effort level was an error, according to the ATP. Strange story.

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Pulse Power Rankings, Cont.: Shout-out to pitchers

Back to the power rankings: 

3. Boston’s steely swipe

The Yankees entered these playoffs as arguably the hottest team in the bracket. A loaded roster and a great September made them a trendy World Series pick. 

The division-rival Red Sox instead went to Yankee Stadium last night and exited with a thrilling 3-1 win. Garrett Crochet was spectacular over 7 2/3 innings, giving up just the one run. And Aroldis Chapman, who has reinvented himself in Boston, got out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the ninth to win the game. 

Sox can clinch tonight. Wild. 

4. Tarik Skubal course-corrected

For now, the story of Detroit’s season is its historic collapse down the stretch. The thing the Tigers needed most, after letting the AL Central slip to the Guardians, was a Game 1 win, on the road in Cleveland, in the AL Wild Card Series. 

Staff ace Skubal delivered just that in 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball, as Detroit eked out a 2-1 road win. The margins are so small in this round. This was a massive, massive win. 

5. The Cubs found a buzz

Chicago finished the season 92-70, which in a normal year would’ve been plenty good to win a division title. But this is a wild-card team, and the emotions are more tenuous in this fan base. 

The Cubbies used back-to-back home runs yesterday to beat the Padres, 3-1, the franchise’s first postseason win since 2017. There was pent-up energy at Wrigley Field, as Patrick Mooney wrote, and a Game 1 win was cathartic. 

What a day all around. Let’s do it again in a few hours.

What to Watch

📺 MLB: Tigers at Guardians

1 p.m. ET on ESPN

We have the same run of schedule today as we did yesterday. The Tigers, Cubs, Red Sox and Dodgers can all advance. See all the games here. 

📺 Soccer: PSG at FC Barcelona

3 p.m. ET on Paramount+

The Champions League also continues today with a full slate. This is probably the juiciest matchup, but decide for yourself. 

Get tickets to games like these here.

Pulse Picks

The college QB class has been … surprising this year. It’s still “special,” as Bruce Feldman reports, but it’s different than we expected. Here’s what scouts have gotten right and wrong about the top signal callers. 

Want a preview of the future of college sports? Read Ralph Russo’s breakdown of the SCORE Act and the SAFE Act. 

Jurgen Klopp is one of the best managers in the modern era of European soccer. In an exclusive interview with The Athletic, he said he never wants to coach again. 

I really enjoyed Dan Woike’s story from earlier in the week on Austin Reaves, who’s at an inflection point with the ever-interesting Lakers. Reaves wants to stay in L.A. — but just made a huge bet on himself. 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: NFL Power Rankings, of course. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: ☝️

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

MLB, WNBA, The Pulse

2025 The Athletic Media Company

The Dodgers are not here for conventional wisdom. The Dodgers are here to win the World Series.

So what if an unforeseen hurdle appeared in front of their October path? The Dodgers are on the verge of turning that hurdle into an unexpected but well-planned advantage on their quest to become baseball’s first back-to-back champions in 25 years.

Conventional wisdom says the odds favor a team with a bye, because that team can set up its pitching rotation for the division series just the way it wants while its opponent burns through its best arms in the wild-card series. The Dodgers are one win away from storming through the wild-card series and setting up their pitching rotation for the division series just fine, thank you very much.

Read more:Plaschke: Dodgers flatten overmatched Reds in unwanted first round. But about that bullpen...

That, it turns out, is what you can do when your star-studded starting rotation is healthy and effective for the first time all season, at precisely the right time.

The Dodgers thoroughly outclassed the Cincinnati Reds, 10-5, in Tuesday’s opener of the best-of-three wild-card series. If the Dodgers win Wednesday, or if they win Thursday, they would advance to what would be the premier matchup in all the National League playoffs: the Dodgers vs. the Philadelphia Phillies.

“I think the biggest downside of playing in a wild-card series, obviously, if you’re able to advance, is what your pitching looks like after that,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “That’s the cost.

“And I think, with our depth, that’s really mitigated.”

It ain’t over ‘til it’s over. If the Angels could go 6-0 against the Dodgers this season, the Reds could win the next two games.

Read more:'It's awesome.' Blake Snell gives the Dodgers just what they paid for

However, the Reds used their best pitcher, Hunter Greene, in Game 1. The Dodgers have their best pitcher, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, ready to deploy in Game 2.

And, since the best-of-three wild card format was introduced in 2022, all 12 teams that have won Game 1 have gone on to win the series.

So let’s plan this out. If the Dodgers win Wednesday, Shohei Ohtani could start Game 1 of the division series Saturday. If the Reds force a decisive third game Thursday, Ohtani is the scheduled starter — and, if the Dodgers win, Tyler Glasnow, Emmet Sheehan and Clayton Kershaw all could be options for Game 1 of the division series.

Kershaw would be available for sure, as he is not on the wild-card roster and he would be pitching on regular rest.

“To have Clayton Kershaw standing there ready, no matter how we deploy our pitching this week, gets at the cost (of playing in the wild-card round) not being as great,” Friedman said.

And the division series includes an off day after each of the first two games, which would enable the Dodgers to use Snell on five days’ rest for Game 2 and Yamamoto on six days’ rest for Game 3.

The Dodgers have so much flexibility, in fact, that manager Dave Roberts declined to say that Ohtani would start Game 1 of the division series if the Dodgers close out the wild-card series Wednesday.

“You’re getting ahead,” Roberts said, “but one of the first two games, probably.”

It is important that Snell held the Reds to two runs in Tuesday’s victory, but it is more important that he pitched seven innings. The Dodgers asked their relievers to cover two innings with an eight-run lead, and it took four of them to do it.

The Dodgers’ road to success is clear: more of the starters, less of the erratic relievers, and less need to lean on Glasnow and Sheehan in an unfamiliar role.

Read more:Dodgers open playoffs with displays of dominance and disorder in win over Reds

“The deeper that the starters go in the game — one, it means that we’re pitching good; but, two, you’re giving the bullpen a break and a breather, and they get to be 100% every time they come out,” Snell said.

“That makes for a different game that favors us.”

The Dodgers improvised their way to a title last October, with three starting pitchers and four bullpen games. That was not conventional wisdom, either.

This time of year, however, most postseason teams have three or four reliable starters. The Dodgers have six. If they have to play in an extra round, well, what doesn’t kill them makes them stronger.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Imagine if the Dodgers hadn’t scored a gazillion runs.

Shudder.

Imagine how the majority of spectators would have tensed up when manager Dave Roberts trudged to the mound to remove Alex Vesia if the game was actually close.

Hoo boy.

Imagine the devastation the Dodgers would have experienced if Jack Dreyer’s bases-loaded walk legitimately endangered their chances of winning.

Read more:Plaschke: Dodgers flatten overmatched Reds in unwanted first round. But about that bullpen...

Barf.

The postseason started for the Dodgers on Tuesday night, and their pumpkin of a bullpen didn’t magically transform into an elegant carriage in a 10-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds in Game 1 of their National League wild-card series.

On a night when the hitters crushed five home runs and starter Blake Snell completed seven innings, the relievers continued to be as terrible as they were over the last three months of the regular season.

The Dodgers technically moved a win closer to defending their World Series title, but that ultimate goal suddenly looked further out of reach because of a shocking 30-minute top of the eighth inning during which three of their arsonist relievers nearly created a save situation out of an eight-run game.

Can a team possibly win a World Series with such an unreliable bullpen?

Before the game, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said he thought so.

“It’s not a talent issue,” Friedman said, but who knows if this was an honest assessment or a disingenuous effort to convince his audience that he hadn’t wasted tens of millions of dollars on a bunch of no-chancers.

Friedman continued, “We’ve seen it time and time again with guys who have scuffled and all of a sudden found it and they roll off a heater.”

That’s not what happened in Game 1.

If anything, the troublesome eighth inning eliminated certain relievers from consideration to pitch in in the highest-leverage of situations.

Suspicions about rookie fireballer Edgardo Henriquez were confirmed, as Henriquez walked a batter to load the bases, walked in a run and gave up a run-scoring single.

The wishful thinking that Dreyer could be a late-inning option was dented, as Dreyer entered the game and walked in another run.

Most disconcerting was the performance of Vesia, the team’s most trusted reliever.

Vesia started the inning, with the Dodgers leading 10-2. The use of Vesia in such a lopsided game spoke to how little Roberts wanted to use any of his other relievers in a game of this magnitude, but the fiery left-hander looked like a rubber band that had been stretched out too many times. Vesia, who pitched a career-high 68 games in the regular season, retired only one batter. He gave up a hit and a walk.

So what now?

Roberts sounded as if the only relievers he trusted were his starters. He said Tyler Glasnow and Emmet Sheehan would be in the bullpen for Game 2.

Glasnow was last used as a reliever in 2018. He’s never pitched out of the bullpen in the postseason.

Sheehan has pitched in relief in only five of 28 career games. He has only one career save, and that was in a four-inning appearance in a blowout.

The Dodgers have contemplated deploying Shohei Ohtani out of the bullpen. They could also have other starting pitchers such as Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Snell pitch in relief instead of throwing scheduled bullpen sessions between starts.

The team’s highest-ceiling late-inning option could be Roki Sasaki, who struck out two batters in each of the two one-inning appearances he made in the final week of the regular season.

Read more:Dodgers open playoffs with displays of dominance and disorder in win over Reds

But outside of Ohtani, who closed out the championship game of the most recent World Baseball Classic, can any of these starters really be counted on to perform in unfamiliar roles?

Will Yamamoto and Snell really be unaffected in their starts if they also pitch in relief?

It’s unclear.

But what is clear is the Dodgers can’t wait around for the likes of Tanner Scott or Blake Treinen or anyone who pitched in the eighth inning on Tuesday to magically round into form as Friedman envisions. They have to try something new.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

One way to keep Dodger relievers from ruining the team’s postseason run is to keep the bullpen gate closed for as long as possible.

Blake Snell gave that strategy a whirl in Game 1 of the National League wild-card series Tuesday, pitching a solid — sometimes brilliant —- seven innings. But even then he and his teammates had to wait out the nightly bullpen meltdown before escaping with a 10-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.

“Blake was fantastic tonight,” manager Dave Roberts said. “You could see he was in complete control. The fastball was great. The change-up was plus.

“Kind of mixing and matching and he really was in control the entire game.”

The bullpen? Not so much. But we’ll get to that in a minute.

Read more:Plaschke: Dodgers flatten overmatched Reds in unwanted first round. But about that bullpen...

For Snell, it was that mixing and matching that made him so tough, Cincinnati manager Terry Francona said.

“The big difference-maker was his change-up,” Francona said. “It was his ability to manipulate the change-up, even vary it. He'd throw one that was 87 [mph] and one that was 82. And he threw two, three, four in a row at times at times, all different speeds.

“You throw a 97 [mph fastball] in there, and it becomes difficult.”

Snell was efficient from the start, retiring the side in the first on seven pitches. He set down the first eight Reds in order, then after giving up a double and walk in the third, retired the next 10 in a row, allowing him to pitch deep into the game.

Given the bullpen’s continued struggles, that’s likely to be a blueprint the Dodgers will continue to follow in the playoffs.

“It felt good to go deep in the ballgame,” said Snell, whose seven innings matched a season high. “I felt really in control, I could read swings and just kind of navigate through the lineup.

“The deeper that the starters go in the game, it means we're pitching good. But it means you're giving the bullpen a break. So it just makes for a different game that favors us.”

Tuesday’s start was Snell’s 11th, for three teams, in the postseason. But it was his first since 2022. Getting back to October was one reason why the left-hander signed with the Dodgers 10 months ago (the five-year $182-million contract the team was offered was another reason).

 “It's awesome,” said Snell, who was wearing a blue hoodie emblazoned with the Dodgers playoff slogan “Built For Fall” across the front. “There's nothing better than pitching a postseason game in front of your home crowd. To be able to enjoy that, it meant a lot.”

And Snell took advantage, breezing into the seventh having given up just a hit. He didn’t give up a run until Elly De La Cruz’s fielder’s choice grounder with two out in the inning.

De La Cruz would score the Reds’ second run on Tyler Stephenson’s double three pitches later.

Snell got the next hitter to end the threat, with the seven innings pitched marking a career playoff best. He had matched his playoff high with nine strikeouts by the sixth inning, which he needed just 70 pitches to complete. He wound up throwing 91 pitches, giving up four hits and a walk, before Roberts went to the bullpen to start the eighth, with predictable results.

Alex Vesia was the first man through the gate and he retired just one of the three batters he faced. He was followed by flamethrower Edgardo Henriquez, who walked the first two hitters and gave up a hit to the third, forcing in two runs.

Jack Dreyer was next and he walked in another run. After entering the inning down by eight runs, Cincinnati brought the tying run to the on-deck circle with one out.

Dreyer eventually settled down, retiring the side, but the three pitchers needed 59 pitches — and 30 minutes — to get through the inning. By the time Blake Treinen came on to finish things off, starter Emmet Sheehan had started warming up.

Read more:Dodgers open playoffs with displays of dominance and disorder in win over Reds

All told, Roberts needed four relievers to get the final six outs, leaving the Dodgers hoping for a Snell-like performance from Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 2 on Wednesday to avoid straining the bullpen further.

“Those guys are on their heels with the lead we have,” Roberts said of the Reds entering the eighth inning. “When you start being too fine and getting behind, you start giving them free bases, that's how you can build innings and get momentum. So that's what I saw in that inning there for sure.

“If we don't feel comfortable using certain guys with an eight-run lead, then we've got to think through some things.” 

Maybe Snell will get a chance to finish what he starts next time out. It’s certainly no worse than the alternative.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

This isn’t a series, it’s calisthenics.

The Dodgers shouldn’t be here battling baseball’s junior varsity, and they know it, and they’re intent on pounding and pitching their way out of this embarrassing situation as quickly as possible.

Wild card round? The defending champions are nobody’s wild card.

The Cincinnati Reds? Human byes.

October came a day early to Chavez Ravine Tuesday and the shouldn’t-be-here Dodgers welcomed it with their annoyance, tying a club postseason record with five homers and dismantling the Reds 10-5 in the opener of a three-game wild-card series that should be mercifully completed by midweek.

Read more:Dodgers waste no time finding their October groove in Game 1 win over Reds

The Dodgers finished 10 games ahead of the Reds in the standings, and won five out of six during the regular season, and only got lumped with the pretenders when their bullpen fell apart and they blew a chance at having the week off.

If the Dodgers had taken care of business they would have finished with one of the two best records in the National League and would have drawn a first-round bye as they did the previous three seasons. But, no, they finished behind Milwaukee and Philadelphia and so, even though they claimed the National League West title for the 12th time in 13 years, they were forced into a three-games-at-home wild card round.

Hello, Reds.

Good-bye, Reds.

The Dodgers will sweep this series with a win in Game 2 Wednesday, and considering they’re sending ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto to the mound, a victory seems likely. In any event, there’s no way the Reds are winning two straight at rollicking Dodger Stadium, so book your attention to Philadelphia this weekend for the beginning of the five-game division series against the Phillies.

The only way the Reds made it this far was because the New York Mets stumbled down the stretch and lost in Miami on the final day of the season. And if Tuesday was any indication, there’s no way the Reds are getting out of here alive.

The Dodgers knocked them backward on the game’s fifth pitch with a scorching home run by Shohei Ohtani against Reds ace Hunter Greene, the second consecutive year Ohtani has started the Dodgers postseason with a longball.

The Dodgers knocked them flat two innings later with four runs on homers by last season’s playoff heroes Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman.

The game was over within its first hour, and the Dodgers were just getting started.

Hernández later added a second home run and, oh yeah, so did Ohtani, two of last season’s postseason stars who love the moment.

“I think it's the clutch gene,” said Dodger Manager Dave Roberts. “I think they're not afraid to fail. They like the spotlight. And it's just a really good heartbeat for those guys in those big moments.”

And to think, neither qualified as the game’s hero.

That title belonged to starter Blake Snell, who fooled the Reds into quick swings, wild swings, silly swings, and just four hits with nine strikeouts in seven innings. Perhaps just as important, he lasted 91 pitches, allowing Dodger Manager Dave Roberts to stay out the dreaded bullpen as long as humanely possible.

“The deeper that the starters go in the game, one, it means we're pitching good; but, two, it means you're giving the bullpen a break and breather,” said Snell. “And they get to be 100 percent every time they come out. So it just makes for a different game that favors us.” 

Of course, Roberts had to eventually crack that left-field door, and disaster very nearly occurred when three Dodger relievers accounted for four walks that led to three eighth-inning runs. But Jack Dreyer managed to get two outs with the bases loaded and Blake Treinen finished the game by allowing just a bloop single in the ninth.

“If we don't feel comfortable using certain guys with an eight-run lead, then we've got to think through some things,” said a dismayed Roberts.

It turns out, even the weakest part of this Dodger team was enough to eventually quiet the visitors, who shouldn’t be here too much longer.

It’s almost as if the Reds were intimidated even before the game began, as the Dodgers buried them in their thickest pregame brine.

Ice Cube was on the video board screaming that it’s time for Dodger baseball. Mariachi Joe Kelly was on the mound delighting the roaring crowd with a ceremonial first pitch that appropriately bounced. Keith Williams Jr. was bringing the chills with his usual falsetto-laden national anthem.

Jason Alexander was on the video board begging the fans to cheer louder… wait a minute. Jason Alexander? Didn’t his Seinfeld character work for the New York Yankees? What was he doing in the heart of Dodgerland? No wonder the fans were ignoring him.

Alexander’s appearance was one of the only mistakes on a night that gave hope that the Dodgers’ late-season steam — they finished 9-2 and led the league in scoring in the final weeks — could carry them far past this miserable little first-round dalliance.

“Momentum is real,” Roberts said, later adding, “I think that whether it's the Rangers find their way into the postseason to then win the World Series or some team finishing hot and remaining hot or in a particular game, I do believe in a postseason game, momentum is real.”

As usual at Chavez Ravine, that momentum built as the game went along, rare empty seats in the stands but full-throated scream from the fans, yet another reason the Dodgers blew it by not getting home-field advantage in later rounds.

“I do love being at home because a lot of times that's what perpetuates it, the home crowd, the energy,” said Roberts.

But, seriously, about that bullpen…

Before the game, Dodgers baseball boss Andrew Friedman bravely faced the question of his bullpen, a mess that he created with poor winter signings and unwise midseason inactivity.

Not surprisingly, he defended his guys.

“They've had stretches of good, they've had some stretches where it's been really tough and challenging,” he acknowledged. “At the end of the day, as we're working through it the last couple of weeks, it's not a talent issue.”

In other words, they’re competent relievers just going through a bad, awful, horrible, season-altering stretch?

“Relievers, kind of like place kickers, are tightrope walkers,” Friedman said. “It's what they do for a living. They do well, people forget about them. They don't do well and they're in the ire of everything. So it's tough.”

Read more:Dodgers hit 5 home runs and Blake Snell shines in Game 1 win over Reds

Friedman said it’s a matter of confidence, which is understandable when a group gets hammered all season like these guys.

“And when the confidence is wavering, the execution is off,” Friedman said. “When the execution is off, you get behind and you come in zone and you're just more likely to take on damage. So it's kind of that imperfect storm in a lot of ways.”

Storm, is right. What kind of bullpen fools around with an eight-run lead, as the Dodgers reliever did Tuesday night when threatening to ruin everything?

The bullpen survived, but for how long? This series may soon be over, but Philadelphia awaits. This first step into October was an impressive one. It will also be the easiest one.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Yankees' bullpen has been much-maligned all season and was the team's weakness heading into the postseason.

So it's no surprise the bullpen was at the forefront of the team's Game 1 loss to the Red Sox on Tuesday -- coupled with the removal of starter Max Fried, of course. But while the decision to pull Fried after 6.1 innings will be scrutinized, bringing in Luke Weaver will also be questioned, and manager Aaron Boone was asked his thoughts on bringing in the right-hander in the spot he did.

"I am just taking that part of the order, then I want [Devin] Williams or [Fernando] Cruz in that kind of [Trevor] Story, [Alex] Bregman [lane]. So I will take Weave at the bottom of the order, especially an out in the books."

Weaver, who became the team's closer on their World Series run a year ago, has struggled in 2025. He finished the regular season with a 3.62 ERA but pitched to a 9.64 ERA in September, ballooned by a couple of bad outings in the middle of the month. But the 32-year-old didn't have it on Tuesday.

With one out in the seventh, Weaver went up against Ceddanne Rafaela, and lost him to a walk after getting ahead in the count 0-2. A hustle double by Nick Sogard put the Yankees in trouble. Nursing a 1-0 lead, Weaver left a pitch up in the zone to pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida, who laced a two-run single to capture the lead.

"Gets ahead 0-2 with Rafaela there and lost the strike zone," Boone said of the outing. "Placed a couple hits on him where, maybe just a little up with a couple of the pitches more than he wanted. But, you know, getting ahead 0-2 to Rafaela and losing him, that's the one that stinks a little bit."

"Just a really good at-bat, had some really strong at-bats in the past. It’s gone both ways," Weaver said of his at-bat with Rafaela. "That’s a real tough one to swallow when you know you had him in an advantage count. He did a really good job of spoiling some pitches, took some shots, and next thing you know, it’s 3-2, and he did a good job of battling through. Didn’t want to give in, and try to throw a cookie over the plate, still trying to execute. There’s a base open, so I just tried to rifle one and it didn’t go where I wanted."

Entering Tuesday, Rafaela was 2-for-6 with a walk and two home runs against Weaver in his career. There are also three strikeouts in there as well, but Rafaela was victorious when it mattered in Game 1, working a walk after 11 pitches.

Boone was aware of the numbers Rafaela had against Weaver, but felt the spot was right for him.

"I felt good about him going through there, the Sogard and then probably a pinch hit lefty there, just trying to shorten it with Williams and [David] Bednar behind him," Boone said.

Weaver felt his outing overall was "very competitive," but it wasn't perfect and the Red Sox found holes. Weaver allowed two runs without recording an out. Cruz would come in and get the final two outs -- after a two-out walk.

"I know there’s a lot of disappointed people, including myself, but just got to be better," Weaver said.

The Yankees need Weaver and the rest of the bullpen to be better -- Bednar would allow a key insurance run in the ninth -- if they hope to overcome the Red Sox in the Wild Card round, and make a deep October run. The first step is winning Game 2 on Wednesday.