The six-month and 162-game wait is over – the MLB Playoffs are finally here! Twelve teams remain standing, while the other 18 are busy cleaning out their lockers. We kick things off with the Wild Card round, with all four series starting on Tuesday. Before all the action starts, here are your winning plays. Next, we move to a classic matchup, with hated American League East rivals the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees meeting up once more.
Red Sox vs Yankees Wild Card Series Predictions & Best Bets
#5 Boston Red Sox vs #4 New York Yankees
Game 1: Tuesday, 8:00 PM ET @ New York
Game 2: Wednesday, 8:00 PM ET @ Boston
Game 3: Thursday, 8:00 PM ET @ New York
The worst part of the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees meeting in the Wild Card round is that one of them is guaranteed to advance to the American League Division Series (I’m a Toronto Blue Jays fan, sue me). And for two proud, historic franchises, the Wild Card round certainly isn’t their goal heading into a season. But here we are.
The Red Sox and the Yankees battling in the playoffs is a new phenomenon, considering the old-school playoffs would only allow one team per division to make the playoffs (the correct format). They had their memorable American League East tiebreaker “playoff” game in 1978 (Bucky Dent, take a bow), then have met six times in the expanded playoff format, splitting the series, most recently playing last year in the Wild Card round as well, with the Yankees winning.
But the past is the past, and this is a new year (so why did I write all that?!). Boston making the playoffs is a miracle considering they were 14 games under .500 just a few months ago. But winning 15 straight games and going 32-5 from July to August got them back in the chase. The Yankees, meanwhile, were pretty much steady all year, despite a myriad of injuries. Head-to-head, the Yankees squeaked out a 7-6 season series victory.
And the injuries linger for New York, with sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton still iffy to play. But the Yankees have just replaced injured stars with new, younger prototypes this season (see Cam Schlitter, expected Cy Young winner and Game 1 starter, and Ben Rice). Perhaps most importantly, New York enters the playoffs on a much better groove than Boston, who, as mentioned, has been mediocre since their blazing hot summer.
So I’m going with the New York Yankees to win this series. But I think it’s a much closer matchup than the -160 line we’re getting in the Yankees’ favor. Therefore, I’m going to get fancy with it and go with New York to win in three games and get more than twice my money. And let’s keep having fun with home run props, and bet on Boston’s Willson Contreras to homer in the series. He led the Sox with 27 dingers this season, plus homered twice against New York in the regular season.
Best Bets: New York to win series in three games (+240); Willson Contreras to homer in series (+130)
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