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A pair of historic franchises will square off Tuesday at Fenway Park in Boston. The Yankees and Red Sox get the 2021 postseason started with hopes of moving on to face the Rays in the ALDS.
New York sends their ace to the mound in Gerrit Cole for his 14th career postseason start. The right-hander was 16-8 with a 3.23 ERA in 30 starts during the regular season.
From @EliasSports: Gerrit Cole is making his fifth career start in a winner-take-all postseason game, tying him with Roger Clemens for the most in major league history. Cole is 1–2 with a 3.09 ERA in his previous four such starts.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) October 4, 2021
Boston will counter with Nathan Eovaldi coming off one of his better overall seasons. The 31-year-old started more than 30 games for the first time since 2014, going 11-9 with a 3.75 ERA.
Since I can't sleep:
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) October 4, 2021
* Nate Eovaldi vs. Yankees this season (6 starts): 2-2, 3.71.
* Gerrit Cole vs. Red Sox this season (4 starts) 2-2, 4.91.
* Yankees at Fenway this season: 4-6, won the last 3.
* Sox vs. Yankees in postseason play: 12-11 Yankees. Sox won 7 of the last 11.
The Yankees have won nine of the last 12 meetings between the two teams this season after losing the first seven.
Dodgers related
There are several Dodger connections on the Red Sox part of this game. Eovaldi was drafted by the Dodgers back in 2008, made his major league debut for LA in 2011 and was traded for Hanley Ramirez in 2012.
Travis Shaw is the son of Jeff Shaw, a reliever for the Dodgers 1998-2001. Alex Verdugo and Kiké Hernandez will likely be in the starting lineup. The latter two were fan favorites at Dodger Stadium before Verdugo was traded to Boston in the Mookie Betts trade in February, 2020.
From @EliasSports: Aaron Judge and Kike Hernandez have hit a home run in each of their last two winner-take- all postseason games. No player in MLB history has homered in three straight games of that kind.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) October 4, 2021
Hernandez won the World Series with the Dodgers in 2020 and has been missed for big chunks of the season in 2021.
Tuesday Schedule
5:08 p.m. PT Yankees (Gerrit Cole) at Red Sox (Nathan Eovaldi) on ESPN