NEW YORK — As Max Fried fired the first pitch in Game 1 of Tuesday’s wild-card matchup between the Yankees and Red Sox, a faint chill and thunderous eruptions signaled postseason baseball and a new chapter in the sport’s most storied rivalry were about to begin in the Bronx.

Aaron Judge had just heard MVP chants during pregame introductions. Boston’s Alex Cora and Alex Bregman were jeered without mercy. Fan favorite Willie Randolph threw out the first pitch before an easily-excitable crowd. Hopes were high for a Yankees team — fresh off an uneven season and a failed attempt at a division title that would have secured a coveted bye — in search of its first World Series championship since 2009.

“This is my seventh postseason,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before the game. “I think at this point where we are as a club is the best group we’ve gone in with. I like the way we’re playing.”

He then added, “Hopefully we get it done.”

For a while, it looked like the Yankees would on Tuesday, as Anthony Volpe smoked a solo shot off Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet in the second inning, sparking cheers for a hometown product who was booed throughout the regular season. Fried, pursued by Boston before signing a record-setting contract with the Yankees over the winter, did his part, shoving for 6 1/3 scoreless innings and 102 pitches.

Alas, that was not enough, as the Yankees fell, 3-1, after turning to a bullpen that has let the team down time and time again this year.

Luke Weaver, inconsistent at best since returning from a hamstring strain in June, did the damage this time, issuing an 11-pitch walk to Ceddanne Rafaela with one out in the seventh. Nick Sogard — running on a sleeping Judge — followed with a hustle double. Pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida then grounded a two-run single to center, giving the sizable pro-Red Sox contingent in attendance something to cheer for.

So did Crochet in his first postseason start, as he retired 17 straight batters between Volpe’s home run and an eighth-inning single from the shortstop. Former Yankee Aroldis Chapman, whose last act with the team saw him skip out on a pre-postseason workout in 2022, then put a dagger in his former employer, escaping a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the ninth to record a four-out save.

Chapman’s shaky effort, which saw Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham strike out in the ninth, also overlapped with an insurance run-scoring double from Bregman, who got to Yankees closer David Bednar in the top of the ninth.

With their bullpen still untrustworthy — no obstacle loomed larger over Boone’s squad heading into postseason play — and their league-leading offense stifled by a Cy Young contender, the Yankees now find their backs firmly against the wall.

The playoffs are still in their infancy, but another loss in the best-of-three wild-card series will end their season. It would be a brutal blow for a team trying to avenge last year’s World Series loss to the Dodgers, a sloppy showing that had the back end of Los Angeles’ roster mocking the Yanks throughout the offseason.

Facing elimination, the Yankees will turn to Carlos Rodón in Game 2 on Wednesday. He is coming off his best season in New York, though the lefty has not been particularly effective against Boston this year.

Standing in the Yankees’ way will be Brayan Bello. The young righty has dominated the pinstripers throughout his career and this season, but the Bombers’ bats will have to bounce back against Bello and Boston’s pitching staff if they hope to play in more than just two postseason games.

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