After 164 games, the Red Sox’ season comes down to this.
Having dropped a razor-thin decision to the Yankees in Game 2 of a wild card series on Wednesday, Boston faces a winner-takes-all Game 3 in the Bronx on Thursday night with a season on the line against its biggest rivals.
It’s a huge moment for 23-year-old Connelly Early, who will make his postseason debut in huge circumstances — the lefthander is the youngest Red Sox pitcher to start a postseason game since Babe Ruth in the 1916 World Series.
The Yankees don’t have much experience on the mound either, countering rookie with rookie with righthander Cam Schlittler — a Walpole native — with their own season on the line.
With a righty going for New York, Alex Cora can opt for a more typical lineup with Masataka Yoshida, Nathaniel Lowe, and Wilyer Abreu returning to the lineup.
Advertisement
First pitch at Yankee Stadium is set for 8:08 p.m. We’ll have live updates, analysis, and commentary from the Globe staff throughout the evening. Follow along with us.
Red Sox-Yankees: Game 3 live
Click here to refresh | Read more Red Sox stories
Lineups and notes for Game 3
RED SOX (89-73): Duran LF, Story SS, Bregman 3B, Yoshida DH, Rafaela CF, Lowe 1B, Narváez C, Abreu RF, Gonzalez 2B
Pitching: LHP Connelly Early (1-2, 2.33 ERA)
YANKEES (94-68): Grisham CF, Judge RF, Bellinger LF Stanton DH Rice 1B, Rosario 3B, Chisholm Jr. 2B, Volpe SS, Wells C
Pitching: RHP Cam Schlittler (4-3, 2.96 ERA)
Time: 8:08 p.m.
TV, radio: ESPN, WEEI-FM 93.7
Red Sox vs. Schlittler: Has not faced any Boston batters
Advertisement
Yankees vs. Early: Has not faced any Yankees batters
Stat of the day: At 101 games, Alex Bregman ranks second among active players in postseason appearances, trailing Jose Altuve (105).
Notes: The Red Sox are 13-13 against the Yankees in the postseason. … With manager Alex Cora deploying six relievers Wednesday night after giving Brayan Bello the hook following 2⅓ innings, the Sox would like to get a deep outing from Early. … The 23-year-old was selected by the Red Sox in the fifth round of the 2023 draft after his junior year at Virginia. … In his most recent start, a 2-1 loss to the Tigers on Saturday, Early allowed two runs on four hits in five innings, throwing 86 pitches … Schlittler made his debut July 9. … He struck out nine and pitched seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball against the Orioles on Saturday in his latest start.
Speier: This series deserved a winner-take-all Game 3 — 6:00 p.m.
Finally — FINALLY — we have a postseason series worthy of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.
For the unindoctrinated whose awareness of the most storied on-field feud in sports has been limited to the last 20 years (along with one of the 35 documentary series on 2004), welcome! Through two thrilling, sickening, squirming days, the Red Sox and Yankees have taken their fight back onto a high wire in a fashion befitting their memorable history.
On Wednesday, the Yankees claimed a taut, punch-counterpunch Game 2 victory to tie the best-of-three American League Wild Card Series and force Game 3 on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium (8:08 p.m., ESPN). In the process, the teams offered a long-awaited reminder of the dynamic that elevated so many of their past showdowns, particularly 1949, ′78, 2003, and ′04.
Advertisement
The subsequent years featured some great teams — including Red Sox championship runs in 2007, ′13, and ′18, as well as one for the Yankees in ′09 — but the head-to-head postseason matchups of the teams weren’t worthy of the Netflix special treatment.
This series has been spectacularly different.
READ MORE
Amin Touri can be reached at amin.touri@globe.com. Alex Speier can be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. Follow him @alexspeier. Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him on Bluesky at peteabeglobe.bsky.social‬. Tara Sullivan is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at tara.sullivan@globe.com. Follow her @Globe_Tara.