The Boston Red Sox took a 1-0 lead over the New York Yankees in the best-of-three American League Wild Card Series with their 3-1 win in Game 1 on Tuesday night.

Major League Baseball adopted the best-of-three format in 2022. Since then, the team winning Game 1 has won the series EVERY time. Winning two straight after losing the first would not seem to be so daunting, but it has proved to be just that.

Smith is one of three catchers active for this round, along with Ben Rortvedt and Dalton Rushing. Rortvedt, who was acquired from the Rays in a three-team deal at the trade deadline, started 15 of the Dodgers’ final 21 games behind the plate, including eight starts in 12 games after Rushing returned from a right shin contusion.

Major League Baseball's postseason got underway on Tuesday with Game 1 of each of the four Wild Card Series. The winners of these three-game sets will then advance to MLB's more traditional playoff structure, beginning with the best-of-five divisional round.