When it comes to Red Sox vs. Yankees, the past is always an overarching theme. Many times, it even towers over the present, and for good reason. The curse, the comeback, the history, the fights, and the ever accumulating list of October showdowns echoes through every game.
But tonight, it’s also about the future. 23-year-old Payton Tolle faces off against 25-year-old Cam Schlittler is a game primed to the be the opening salvo for the next epic era of Boston vs. New York drama. Both are young, both
are flame throwers, and both seem likely to be at or near the top of each of these rotations for years to come. Tonight, they’ve been matched up in a clash of titans where the winner will instantly push the other’s team to the brink of elimination. Such is life in a best-of-three Wild Card series.
Lineup wise, the Red Sox will have Roman Anthony leading off, but they have him at DH instead of left field. This means Jarren Duran is in left – where he botched a huge play in Game 2 last year at Yankee Stadium — and if Chad Tracy pinch hits for Duran late, they’ll have to do some roster shuffling to realign the deck. That’s a big story to watch out for late.
Also of note, Adley Rutschman bats second in front of Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu. This will create some very interesting platoon decisions for the Yankees when Schlitter runs out of gas as Rutschman has looked better from the right side of late. I also find Caleb Durbin batting ninth in front of the Anthony, Rutschman and Contreras part of the lineup interesting.
The Yankees meanwhile are going with Anthony Volpe over Jazz Chisholm at second base, Spencer Jones over Trent Grisham in center field, and Amed Rosario over Ryan McMahon at third. I would expect a bunch of mixing and matching here if the Red Sox bring a righty into the game. The Yankees went with 16 position player on the playoff roster, so there will be no shortage of combinations they can turn to as the innings wear on.
Those storylines, and a bunch of others that haven’t even hatched yet are about to play out over the next few hours. Hold onto your butts! Red Sox vs. Yankees starts now!
⚾️ First Pitch: 8:00pm — Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York (Hell).
📺 TV: NBC (and streaming on Peacock)
📻 Radio: WEEI, ESPN Radio, SiriusXM, iHeartRadio
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