One of the most historic rivalries in baseball will clash on Tuesday as the New York Yankees will square off with the Boston Red Sox in a one-game, loser go home Wild Card matchup. The Red Sox will host this game at Fenway Park with the first pitch scheduled for 8:08 pm ET.
The AL Wild Card was a wild one that came down to four teams competing for two spots on the last day of the regular season. At 92-70, both the Yankees and Red Sox prevailed, with the Red Sox getting home-field advantage due to their season series.
The Red Sox were 10-9 against the Yankees this season. After Boston won the first seven head-to-head matchups between the two teams, the Yankees ended up winning the last six (including a three-game sweep at Fenway Park).
On Tuesday, these two teams will clash in an epic battle for their postseason lives.
The Yankees are the slight favorites despite playing on the road. They are -122 to win while Boston’s Moneyline sits at +104. The runline features the Red Sox +1.5 (-156), and the over/under for total runs is eight.
Pitching Matchup
The Yankees will be sending their ace, Gerrit Cole, to the mound Tuesday. On the season, Cole is 16-8 with a 3.23 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and struck out 243 in 181.1 innings pitched.
In 13 postseason games in his career, Cole is 8-4 with a 2.68 ERA and 0.88 WHIP.
The Red Sox will counter with righty Nathan Eovaldi. This season, Eovaldi went 11-9 with a 3.75 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and he struck out 195 in 182.1 innings of work.
Like Cole, Eovaldi has had some postseason success. In six games, he is 2-1 with a 1.61 ERA and 0.81 WHIP.
By The Number
The Red Sox had the statistically stronger season offensively between the two. They ranked fifth in scoring averaging 5.12 runs per game (5.80 at home). The Yankees ranked 19th averaging 4.39 runs per game.
Defensively, it was the Yankees with the edge. They ranked 10th in scoring defense allowing 4.13 runs per game. The Red Sox ranked 18th allowing 4.62 runs.
Boston Trying To Snap Losing Streak To Yankees
Despite winning the season series, the Yankees have had a lot of success against Boston towards the end of the season. On Tuesday, the Red Sox will look to snap the Yankees’ current six-game winning streak against them.
To do so, though, they may be without one of their best hitters. J.D. Martinez injured himself in the last game of the regular season as he sprained his ankle on second base running out to play defense in between innings.
This season, Martinez is hitting .286/.349/.518 with 28 home runs, 99 runs batted in, and 92 runs scored. As of Monday night, he was still questionable for the game.
Even without Martinez, the Red Sox have a lethal lineup. Rafael Devers (.279/.352/.538, 38 HR, 113 RBI, 101 R), Hunter Renfroe (31 HR, 96 RBI, 89 R), and Xander Bogaerts (.295/.370/.493, 23 HR, 79 RBI) are all part of the reason that the Red Sox have one of the best offenses in baseball.
Yankees Also Dealing With Injury Concerns
Boston isn’t the only team with injury concerns entering Tuesday’s matchup. DJ LaMahieu will miss the game after being put on the injured list, but it appears that Gio Urshela is good to go after his heroic play into the Rays’ dugout Sunday.
It is worth noting that the offense will also take a slight blow as Kyle Higashioka, not Gary Sanchez, will be catching for Cole.
While hitting just .204/.307/.423, Sanchez is third on the team in home runs with 23.
Leading the way on offense for New York is Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. These two have been sizzling to end the season.
In the last two weeks, Stanton is hitting .295/.347/.705 with five home runs and 17 runs batted in. Not to be outdone, Judge is hitting .325/.420/.700 with four home runs and 13 runs batted in over that same stretch.
Take Yankees To Exact Revenge From 2004
The last time these two faced off in a win or go home postseason matchup was in 2004. That was the year the Red Sox came back from being down 3-0 and would ultimately go on to win the World Series.
While no one on the current club was on that roster, the Yankees will still hope to exact some revenge from that brutal comeback.
When the Red Sox and Yankees square off, it is best to throw records and stats out the window. Still, it is hard to ignore the advantage that New York has with Cole on the mound.
Games like these are exactly why the Yankees picked up Cole as a free agent a couple of seasons ago. Now, he gets the chance to prove his worth.
Take the Yankees to win.
