The New York Yankees are preparing to take on the Boston Red Sox in the Wild Card game at 8 PM on Tuesday evening. With the Yankees traveling to Boston, they will be in enemy territory, fighting off a ferocious band of fans while trying to take down a team that has won three straight games, sweeping the Washington Nationals.
However, the Yankees recently swept Boston at home, keeping them to just three runs in all of their wins. The Bombers scored a total of 19 runs compared to nine from Boston, showcasing their offensive firepower. Unfortunately, they will be without star infielder, DJ LeMahieu, as he suffered a sports hernia which placed him on the injured list. Considering how many injuries LeMahieu has played through in the past, he presents a player with strong pain tolerance, but even he was unable to push through this issue.
In the meantime, the Yankees will feature Rougned Odor at third base, potentially bringing in Andrew Velazquez if need be to run the bases or fill in for injury.
The Yankees will feature Gerrit Cole on the mound against Boston, and he’s had a problematic past few outings, giving up 15 runs in his last three games. In his last performance against Boston, he lasted 6.0 innings, giving up five hits and three runs. While this might be enough to extract victory, he needs to put forth his best performance of the year and blank Boston for as long as possible. On the other side, the Red Sox will host Nathan Eovaldi.
Eovaldi has a 3.75 ERA the season, having pitched 6.0 innings and giving up zero runs against the Baltimore Orioles on September 29, his last regular-season outing. The last time he played the Yankees, on September 24, he gave up seven earned runs over 2.2 innings. There is no question that Eovaldi is susceptible, and in the biggest moment of the season, the Yankees have an opportunity to knock him out early and steal a big win away from home.
The Bombers will need their sluggers to step up and do some damage in this game. Both Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton have been on fire as of late, but the Yankees struggled massively against Tampa Bay, scoring just six runs over three games. They need more consistency, and it starts with their big guns showcasing their power.
Score predictions: 5-4 Yankees