NEW YORK, NY—For the second October in a row, the Yankees and Red Sox will settle things in the Bronx.
New York will host Boston in a best-of-three American League Wild Card Series beginning Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, nearly identical to the stage these rivals occupied one year ago. The Yankees edged the 2026 season series 7-6, including a 4-2 record against Boston at home.
Last October, Boston landed the first punch before New York answered with consecutive wins, ending the series behind one of the most memorable postseason pitching performances in recent Yankees history.
Now they get to do it all over again.
And with the arms both clubs can roll out over three games, this series could once again come down to pitching.
Yankees hand the ball to Schlittler first
Aaron Boone and the Yankees are handing Game 1 to Cam Schlittler, which feels especially fitting against Boston.
Schlittler finished the regular season 14-6 with a 1.95 ERA. Max Fried, who went 5-5 with a 2.80 ERA, is scheduled for Game 2, while Gerrit Cole is lined up for a potential winner-take-all Game 3. Carlos Rodón could be available out of the bullpen while potentially lining up for Game 1 of the ALDS.
That is quite the change from one year ago.
The 2025 Wild Card Series opened with Fried opposing Garrett Crochet. Crochet dominated, allowing just one run over 7 2/3 innings with 11 strikeouts as Boston won Game 1, 3-1.
Facing elimination, the Yankees turned to Rodón in Game 2 and escaped with a 4-3 victory behind a Ben Rice home run and Austin Wells’ go-ahead single in the eighth.
Making his first career postseason start, the Massachusetts native threw eight scoreless innings, allowed five hits, walked nobody and struck out 12 as New York eliminated Boston with a 4-0 win. He became the first pitcher in postseason history to throw at least eight scoreless innings with 12 or more strikeouts and no walks.
One year later, instead of waiting for Game 3, the Yankees are putting the baseball in his hand immediately.
Boston is expected to counter with veteran Sonny Gray and rookie left-hander Payton Tolle in the first two games, with Ranger Suárez available if the series reaches Thursday. Gray finished 18-5 with a 2.72 ERA, while Tolle went 9-6 with a 3.03 ERA.
No Crochet-Fried rematch this time, but there is no shortage of starting pitching.
The Closers
If these games are as tight as Yankees-Red Sox playoff games tend to be, the ninth inning could become just as important as the first.
Aroldis Chapman and David Bednar have both been reliable late-inning weapons in 2026, although they have gotten there differently.
Chapman has been the more overpowering arm, posting a 1.92 ERA with 71 strikeouts in 51 2/3 innings while converting 35 saves for Boston.
Bednar matched him with 35 saves for the Yankees while carrying a much heavier workload. He threw 69 1/3 innings with a 2.47 ERA, 76 strikeouts and a 1.04 WHIP.
In a three-game series where one late mistake can end a season, getting the ball cleanly to either closer could decide everything.
Likely Lineups
Red Sox
1. Roman Anthony, DH
2. Ceddanne Rafaela, CF
3. Wilyer Abreu, RF
4. Willson Contreras, 1B
5. Adley Rutschman, C
6. Caleb Durbin, 3B
7. Jarren Duran, LF
8. Trevor Story, SS
9. Nick Sogard, 2B
Yankees
1. Ben Rice, DH
2. Cody Bellinger, LF
3. Heliot Ramos, RF
4. Luis García Jr., 1B
5. Spencer Jones, CF
6. Jazz Chisholm Jr., 2B
7. George Lombard Jr., SS
8. Austin Wells, C
9. José Caballero, 3B
**The Yankees’ lineup could shift quite a bit depending on Boston’s Game 1 starter. If Sonny Gray gets the ball, the Yankees could lean closer to this look against a right-hander. If Boston starts the left-handed Payton Tolle, expect some changes, including a stronger chance of Paul Goldschmidt penciled into the lineup. This projection also assumes Aaron Judge is not ready to return for the Wild Card Series.
Yankees roster leaves several question marks
As strong as New York’s rotation looks, the lineup entering October is far less settled.
Aaron Judge remains the biggest question.
Judge landed on the injured list with a moderate strain of the right soleus after already missing 84 games earlier this season with a rib injury. He has maintained that he intends to play in the postseason, but his status for the Wild Card Series remains uncertain.
Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham appear further along.
Stanton, sidelined by a left calf strain, has taken live at-bats, homered and run the bases while working toward a return. The Yankees could potentially use him as a pinch-hitting option if he is not ready for full-time DH duties.
Grisham continues to work back from a right hamstring strain and has progressed through running, hitting and live at-bats.
Ryan Weathers is also pushing for a postseason roster spot. The left-hander has been out since August with a forearm flexor strain but threw live batting practice Sept. 25, reaching 96 mph. Boone called him “very much in play” for the Wild Card roster.
That leaves New York with several important decisions before Tuesday, especially regarding how many players it is willing to carry who may not be ready for their normal workloads.
Thirteen games were not enough
The Yankees won the regular-season battle, but barely.
New York finished 7-6 against Boston, with four of those seven victories coming at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees won four of the first five meetings before Boston answered with a four-game sweep at Fenway Park in June. New York responded in August, taking three of four in the Bronx.
Now none of those 13 games matter much.
Boston proved last October how quickly winning Game 1 can put the home team under pressure.
New York proved it could survive it.
And Schlittler, the pitcher who ended Boston’s season last year, gets the first opportunity to make sure the Yankees don’t have to climb out of that hole again.
Yankees-Red Sox in October
For all the history attached to Yankees-Red Sox, their official postseason rivalry is relatively modern.
The 2026 Wild Card Series will be the seventh official postseason meeting between the teams, all since 1999. Fittingly, the first six are split evenly at three apiece.
The Yankees took the 1999 ALCS in five games, then delivered one of the rivalry’s most memorable moments four years later when Aaron Boone’s Game 7 walk-off homer sent New York to the 2003 World Series.
We do not need to spend much time discussing 2004. The Yankees went up 3-0 before Boston became the first and still only MLB team to erase a 3-0 postseason series deficit.
But we don’t make mention of that year. IYKYK. So, moving right along.
Boston won the 2018 ALDS in four games and eliminated New York again in the 2021 AL Wild Card Game at Fenway.
Then came 2025.
Crochet gave Boston Game 1. New York fought back in Game 2. Schlittler took care of the rest, striking out 12 over eight scoreless innings to send the Red Sox home.
And exactly one year later, they are doing it again.
And yes, we are counting Bucky Dent
Officially, 1978 is not part of the Yankees-Red Sox postseason head-to-head record.
The teams finished tied atop the AL East and met at Fenway Park on Oct. 2 for a one-game tiebreaker with a playoff spot on the line. Because tiebreaker games were considered part of the regular season at the time, it does not technically count as postseason history.
But we count it anyway.
Boston led 2-0 in the seventh when Bucky Dent, who hit only five home runs during the entire regular season, sent a three-run shot over the Green Monster. The Yankees held on for a 5-4 win, captured the division and eventually won the World Series.
Nearly five decades later, Bucky is still leaving a Dent in Boston.
So officially, 2026 is postseason meeting No. 7.
Unofficially, October between these two started long before that.
And after splitting the first six official chapters three apiece, the Yankees and Red Sox are headed for yet another tiebreaker.
Postseason at a glance
