BOSTON -- A lot happened at Fenway Park on Friday night. A lot always does when the Red Sox face the Yankees. Joe Torre, MLB's chief baseball officer, mentioned on Friday that when Bud Selig was commissioner, he used to call occasionally to complain when the two teams would play another four-hour game that felt as if it needed an intermission.
"I'd always say, 'Commish, nobody seems to leave,'" Torre said.
Nobody left Fenway on Friday night. By the time they did, the Red Sox had just hung on for a 5-4 win. Chris Sale started and pitched well enough, and somehow the Red Sox were able to get just enough outs from their bullpen after he exited. Brandon Workman struck out Gleyber Torres with the bases loaded to end the sixth. Matt Barnes fanned Giancarlo Stanton with the bases loaded in the seventh. Craig Kimbrel got the last four outs -- three of them strikeouts -- around Aaron Judge's shot into the Red Sox's bullpen that made it 5-4 in the ninth.
But, in the end, the story of this game really was about the two big bats each team added during the last baseball winter: J.D. Martinez and Stanton. Martinez did his job in Game 1, while Stanton did not. It was a tale of two sluggers, and only one enjoyed a fairy-tale ending at Fenway.
Martinez took the kind of swing David Ortiz used to from the middle of the Red Sox's order in October, as he deposited a three-run homer into the first row of seats above the Green Monster in the first. Stanton? He endured the kind of lost night Alex Rodriguez used to experience during Yankee Octobers, before he finally changed his own narrative in October 2009.
J.D. had a game that was a microcosm of his season -- two hits, three RBIs, while nearly hitting an additional home run of his own into the Red Sox's bullpen. As superb an all-around player as Mookie Betts is -- with all the Willie Mays he has in his game -- Martinez once again showed why, if they're still calling it the Most Valuable Player Award, he has to lead the conversation for that honor in the American League. Do the math. The Red Sox have now won 109 games this season. The only major difference between last year's team and this year's happens to be him.
After the game, Martinez was asked about his first-inning swing -- after J.A. Happ had just thrown six straight balls, the first four to Steve Pearce.
"I was ready for a fastball," Martinez said.
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He hit 43 homers during the regular season, knocked in 130 and hit .330. Now, he starts off the postseason with 2-for-4 outing, with a homer and three more RBIs. Stanton? Despite all the times he hurt the Red Sox during the regular season, he ended up hurting his own team more on Friday night -- especially in the seventh, when he faced Barnes with the bases full and, oh by the way, nobody out.
The game was 5-2 at that point, and the Red Sox were hanging on to Game 1 for dear life. Fenway had been so loud and excited after Martinez's home run. Then, it was 5-0 by the third inning. But by the seventh, the place was starting to lose its voice, as the reality the Red Sox might lose Game 1 set in, somewhat like cement. Now came this moment, with Stanton at the plate, when the Red Sox could lose their lead. They did not. Stanton struck out swinging, as he would do again against Kimbrel in the ninth.
The Yankees broke the all-time home run record this season, with 267. But they also struck out a lot. Of all the teams in the postseason, only the Dodgers and Brewers fanned more than the Yankees -- who play the modern game for all it is worth. Big flies or big misses. Stanton struck out 211 times himself. Sometimes teams like the Yankees can mash their way through the postseason, even against good pitching. But sometimes strikeouts can put you down 0-1 in an AL Division Series.
The Yankees did mount a rally in this game. Their offense didn't shut down the way it did in the last two games of the 2017 AL Championship Series against the Astros. They threw some scare into the Red Sox and into the Fenway faithful. But they didn't need a home run from Stanton in the seventh inning. They needed him to put the ball in play and get at least one run home. He didn't come close.

Stanton hit 38 home runs during the regular season and one in the AL Wild Card Game against the A's. But Stanton did not turn out to be nearly as important to the Yankees as Martinez has been to the Boston Red Sox. A long time ago, the Twins didn't want Ortiz. He came to the Red Sox and made baseball history, so much of it in October. Four years ago, the Astros released Martinez in Spring Training. Now, he is in Boston trying to make October history of his own.
Martinez also said this about his early home run in the interview room:
"It took a little pressure off everyone."
This is what Stanton said about his own night at Fenway, when so much pressure was on him late:
"I wasn't able to get the job done."
A lot of guys helped the Red Sox win Game 1. Martinez, the man who ought to be the AL MVP, started it. There is all this overheated talk about openers now in baseball. J.D. was the opener for his team at Fenway on Friday night. Much later, Stanton ended up as the worst kind of closer for the Yankees. Maybe Game 2 will be better.