Aroldis Chapman had ‘heart start racing’ before great escape to clinch Red Sox’ Game 1 win

NEW YORK — Entering Tuesday, Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman had pitched 44 career postseason games, including eight at Yankee Stadium. That didn’t stop the 37-year-old from feeling the heat of the moment when the ninth inning began to get away from him in a close game.

With the Red Sox leading, 3-1, in Game 1 of the best-of-three Wild Card Series, Chapman experienced something he hasn’t all year. In the first five pitches of the frame, three Yankees — Paul Goldschmidt, Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger — all hit singles off of him. It was the first time Chapman had allowed three hits in a single outing all season and the bases-loaded, no-out situation put New York in prime position to at least tie the game.

“Of course, you feel it,” Chapman said through translator Carlos Villoria Benítez. “When you come in to the ninth inning and get three straight hits, the heart starts racing so you have to calm down, you have to take a deep breath and then go from there and then focus on each pitch.”

Chapman got Giancarlo Stanton to swing at four straight pitches and strike out, then pounded the zone with three straight fastballs to Jazz Chisholm Jr. before Chisholm chased a slider and flew out to right field, not deep enough to plate Goldschmidt from third. With the Bronx crowd on its feet, Chapman faced a left-on-left battle against Trent Grisham. A foul tip on a 101.2 mph inside fastball ended the game and put the Red Sox a win away from the ALDS.

“You trust the guy,” said manager Alex Cora. “He has been one of the best, if not the best closers in the game. So just let him go. He made some pitches.”

Chapman, who went six weeks without giving up a hit between late July and early September, didn’t look fully comfortable in his old stomping grounds when he took over the eighth. Replacing ace Garrett Crochet after his stellar 117-pitch performance, Chapman — who recorded more than three outs just once in the regular season, on July 23 in Philadelphia — entered with a runner on first, two outs and Jose Caballero at the plate. A wild first pitch preceded Chapman letting the runner, Anthony Volpe, take second base when he disengaged from the rubber three times, violating a rule. He got Caballero to fly out with the tying run on second.

“I know that in this situation, in the playoffs, they’re going to need me sometimes more than three (outs), and I’m ready for that,” Chapman said.

Cora was intentional in his decision to go to Chapman over setup man Garrett Whitlock despite Caballero being a right-handed hitter. With lefties Ben Rice and Ryan McMahon on the bench for New York, Cora preferred Chapman vs. Caballero over Whitlock facing one of them. It was shaky, but worked out.

“They’ve got some good left-handed hitters on the bench,” Cora said. “Rice was there. It is not that I don’t trust Whitlock against him, but I trust Chappy against the righties. That’s something we talked about in preparation before the game: ‘Hey, our lefties are really good.’ (Justin) Wilson and Chapman and (Steven) Matz. If there’s a chance we can keep the righties in the lineup and take our chances, we are going to do it.”

Alex Bregman’s RBI double gave Chapman an insurance run and some extra room to breath when things got tight in the ninth.

“Stay calm. That’s all you can do,” Cora said. “Make pitches. They were aggressive. Didn’t hit the ball hard in that inning, but they were getting hits.”

Once Chapman struck out Stanton, who is always a power threat, it seemed like he regained control. It wasn’t long until he was screaming and celebrating on the Yankee Stadium mound.

“He is the best reliever in the American League,” said Crochet. “I don’t think it is too big of a leap to say something like that, especially with a huge insurance run there in the ninth. We get a double play, they score one, and it’s one out to go. I feel really good about that.”