Yankees, Red Sox Set For Second Straight Wild Card Clash
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox will meet in the 2026 American League Wild Card Series for a second consecutive season. Boston clinched the No. 2 AL wild-card seed with a Friday afternoon win over the Chicago Cubs, days after New York had already locked up the No. 1 AL wild-card spot.
Game 1 of the best-of-three series is scheduled for Sept. 29 at Yankee Stadium, the same venue that hosted last year's matchup, when New York eliminated Boston in three games. During the regular season, the Yankees took seven of 13 meetings between the AL East rivals, going 4-2 at home and 3-4 on the road. New York entered Sept. 25 with a 92-67 record, while Boston stood at 85-74. beach volleyball betting odds
The two franchises share one of baseball's most storied postseason rivalries. Their first playoff encounter came in the 1999 AL Championship Series, when the Yankees beat Boston in five games en route to a World Series title, with Roger Clemens making his first postseason appearance for New York after 13 seasons in Boston. The 2003 ALCS delivered a seven-game classic capped by Aaron Boone's walk-off home run in the 11th inning, sending the Yankees to the World Series. Boston answered a year later, becoming the first team in professional sports history to overcome a 3-0 series deficit en route to its first championship since 1918. The rivalry resumed in October in 2018, when Boston beat New York in the ALDS on its way to a fourth 21st-century title, and again in 2021, when the Red Sox eliminated the Yankees in the AL Wild Card Game. Last year, New York evened the all-time postseason series count at three wins apiece by winning the final two games of the 2025 Wild Card Series.
With the season series and playoff history split, the two clubs now carry that rivalry into a new best-of-three set at Yankee Stadium, with a trip to the AL Division Series on the line.
