Going into the final two games of the regular season in 1949, the Yankees trailed the Red Sox by one game. They won those final two games, overtaking Boston to win the American League. On April 18, 1950, the Yankees and Red Sox opened the season against each other. What happened in that Opening Day game just continued the trend of inflicting agonizing defeat on the Red Sox.
After the Yankees went down in order in the top of the first, Allie Reynolds took the mound as the Opening Day starter. He gave up four hits to the first four hitters he faced, and exited the first inning trailing 3-0.