For the third time since 2018, the best rivalry in baseball takes center stage in the postseason.
The Boston Red Sox will head to Yankee Stadium for a three-game series with the New York Yankees. Games will be played at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and if necessary, Thursday.
The Red Sox have won the last three postseason series against the Yankees dating back to the miraculous 3-0 comeback in 2004. Boston beat New York 3-1 in the 2018 ALDS and took home the final one game wildcard against the Yankees in 2021.
This season, the Red Sox won the series 9-4 in the regular season, including eight straight victories against their archrival.
Both sides have announced a starting pitcher for game 1 with Garrett Crochet on the mound for Boston and Max Fried toeing the rubber for New York.
Crochet had the best season of his young career and will finish in the top three for Cy Young voting. The southpaw went 18-5 with a 2.59 ERA while leading the league in strikeouts and innings pitched. Crochet pitched against the Yankees four times this season, all resulting in wins for the Red Sox. His best performance came on June 13 when he went 8.1 shoutout innings before surrendering a home run to Aaron Judge. The Sox would hit a walk of winner in extras. The 26-year-old Crochet also pitched 7 innings of 1 run ball against the Bronx Bombers at the end of August. He struck out 11 Yankees that day.
The former Chicago White Sock appeared out of the bullpen for Chicago during their postseason runs in the early 2020s. He pitched a total of three innings, allowing 0 hits and striking out 6. The Red Sox front office signed him to a six-year $170 million dollar contract extension for games like this, all eyes will be on the Sox ace Tuesday night.
Fried was stellar in his first year of an eight-year $218 million dollar contract with New York. Fried led the league in wins while striking out a career high 189 batters. The lefty had three starts against Boston this year and two of which saw his team go scoreless at the hands of Boston. On August 22, he and Red Sox game 2 starter Bryan Bello dueled with Fried being pulled after 99 pitches and 6 innings of work. The Yankees bullpen instantly allowed the lone run of the game and that was that. The 31-year-old has been roughed up in his last three postseason starts but was pivotal for the 2021 World Series Champion Atlanta Braves. Despite getting tagged for over five earned runs in starts against the Dodgers and Astros respectively, Fried had three starts where he allowed 2 or less runs including six innings of shoutout baseball in the Braves World Series clinching game 6 victory.
If Fried can see some run support, it is anyone’s game on Tuesday.
The x-factors for Boston against Fried and other lefties are Romy Gonzalez and Rob Refsnyder. Refsnyder hit .302 with 7 home runs against left-handed pitchers this season. The veteran will be in the lineup against Fried on Tuesday and could be pivotal down the stretch.
Gonzalez has been locked in all summer and is looking to continue his momentum into October. The infielder finished the season with a .305 batting average which included a 14-game hitting streak during the month of September. He has also become an everyday member of the lineup, hitting .286 versus righties in almost 200 plate appearances this season.
Carlos Rodon will be on the mound for Aaron Boone’s team in game 2 opposing Bello for the Sox. Rodon had his best season in New York going 18-9 and earning his first All-Star nod since 2022. He will also see the likes of Gonzalez and Refsnyder in Alex Cora’s lefty lineup on Wednesday night.
Bello had his best season in the big leagues by far, posting a 3.35 ERA in 29 games. The righty struggled in his last start against the Bronx Bombers but was dominant in his first two. Bello went 14 scoreless innings in those two starts with the Red Sox winning both. If he can get back to his old ways and brush off his 5.40 ERA in the month of September, the Sox have a fighting chance in game 2.
Starpower will be on display in both batting orders. The Bronx Bombers lived up to the name as they had seven players hit over 20 home runs. Judge led the way with 53 while Trent Grisham put up an impressive 34 along with great defense in centerfield. Giancarlo Stanton hit 24 in only 77 games and was on fire last playoffs, the Yankees will look for him to carry that momentum into this October.
The Red Sox will rely heavily on the veteran tandem of Alex Bregman and Trevor Story. Bregman was named an All-Star in his first season in Boston after accumulating 3.5 WAR. Story finally had a fully healthy season for the Sox and produced similar numbers to his days in Colorado. The shortstop hit 25 home runs and stole 31 bases in 157 games played.
These two along with 2023 World Series Champion Nathaniel Lowe have the most postseason experience in the lineup and will be crucial if the Sox want to make it out of the Bronx victorious.
Other important hitters include Jarren Duran, former Yankee Carlos Narvaez and clutch specialist Ceddanne Rafaela whose walk off triple on Friday night sent the Red Sox to the playoffs.
The bullpens for each team have had their ups and downs this season, but both seem to be ready to roll into October.
The Boston backend of Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman have been dominant, with Chapman having his best season ever converting 32 of 34 save opportunities.
Devin Williams had a very rocky season but really started to turn a corner for the Yankees in September. After surrendering 4 runs on September 3, Williams has only allowed 5 hits and 2 walks in his last nine appearances out of the pen.
The heavyweight clash is set for this week and fans from both sides are eager to see the chaos unfold.