Alex Cora backing Aaron Boone into a corner makes absurd Ben Rice decision a footnote

When the New York Yankees revealed their Game 1 lineup against the Boston Red Sox for the AL Wild Card Series, most fans knew they were doomed. On no planet should Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ben Rice been on the bench with arguably the best pitcher in the American League on the mound — even if he used his left arm to throw the ball.

But that's Yankees logic for you. "Hey, let's upend everything that's worked for us this year because a few of the other guys we have can stand in the opposite batter's box!" Did anybody really think Garrett Crochet would be thrown off by Paul Goldschmidt, Amed Rosario and Jose Caballero to such an extent that he would unravel and get chased from the game?

Perhaps what the Yankees didn't realize is that if Crochet went long enough ... they would simply just have to face another lefty in Aroldis Chapman. And that's exactly what happened on Tuesday night.

Boone's lone lineup change came in the top of the eighth when he put Chisholm in and took Rosario out. The Yankees were down 2-1. Not sure what the reason was because ... Crochet was still pitching and it was obvious Alex Cora's next move would be Chapman.

And Chisholm getting the nod actually helped Chapman. The left-hander loaded the bases after seeing the first three batters in the top of the ninth. All of Goldschmidt, Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger singled. Next three up? Giancarlo Stanton (righty), Chisholm (lefty) and Trent Grisham (lefty).

After Chapman struck out Stanton, he had the advantage. He was facing two lefties — one who just came into the game 20 minutes ago and another who had struck out three times in his previous three plate appearances. Just like that, Chapman got Chisholm to fly out and then he struck Grisham out. Game over. Crisis averted. Threat ... never really a threat.

So let's get this straight: Boone (and Brian Cashman?) benched the two best left-handed hitters on the team as part of a ploy to circumvent Crochet, failed at that, brought in one of the lefties anyway, and ended up having to face the equally dominant lefty relief version of Crochet? Because he put all of his right-handed bats in the starting lineup, Boone had no option late in the game to pinch hit for Grisham, who did not earn an at-bat in the ninth after his three strikeouts. There was no combatting Chapman at that point. The Yankees lost the battle, they lost the war. What did they think? They would get a small one- or two-inning window against a righty reliever and do all their damage there? Give us a break.

Boone and the Yankees didn't consider that if their plan had failed with their underwhelming right-handed options, that they would still have their hands tied with more lefty-lefty matchups. That's why fans had lobbied for them playing their best lineup possible. Because then if that didn't work, they would have the flexibility to move pieces around and call on the righties to try and change things up.

Fans are rightfully mad about Rice not getting an at-bat and Max Fried getting pulled when he did. Both understandable and valid. But the bigger picture here was Cora smirking in the corner the entire time, knowing that if his ace managed to handle the Yankees' order and keep them at bay, he was going to use Crochet to the brink (117 pitches) to bridge the gap to Chapman. And that's what he did. And that's how the Yankees lost.