Yankees host Red Sox for 7th playoff meeting — SkimNews
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- New York Yankees will host the Boston Red Sox in a best-of-three AL wild-card series at Yankee Stadium starting Tuesday, with the winner advancing to face Tampa Bay in the ALDS.
- The matchup is the seventh postseason meeting between the two clubs, who enter tied 3-3 all time, highlighted by Boston's 2004 comeback from a 3-0 ALCS deficit.
- Willson Contreras, Boston's leader with 27 homers and 81 RBIs, is uncertain for the series after being hit on his right hand by a pitch on Sept. 17.
- The Red Sox were 32-46 and last in the AL East on June 24 before a four-game sweep of New York at Fenway sparked a 32-5 stretch featuring their first 15-game winning streak since 1946.
- Boston fired manager Alex Cora and five coaches on April 25 after a 10-17 start; Triple-A Worcester's Chad Tracy was promoted as interim and signed a three-year deal Tuesday.
- New York took this year's regular-season series 7-6 and eliminated Boston in last year's wild-card round behind Massachusetts native Cam Schlittler's 12-strikeout, eight-inning performance in a 4-0 Game 3 win.
Why it matters: Boston's extraordinary turnaround — from 32-46 and last place on June 24 to playoff-bound despite firing manager Alex Cora mid-season — sets up a winner-takes-all matchup where the Yankees carry a 7-6 regular-season edge and Contreras's hand injury could shift a series already defined by narrow margins.
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