The drama surrounding Tuesday's American League Wild Card Game is intense enough.
The Boston Red Sox are hosting the New York Yankees at Fenway Park in the first winner-take-all postseason game between the teams since Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, with the winner advancing to face the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS beginning Thursday.
One way or another, the Yankees and Red Sox would've been meeting for the right to eventually take on the Rays, anyways, as New York had elected to face Boston in a one-game playoff had there been a four-way tie also involving the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners for the AL Wild Card.
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Tomase: Red Sox-Yankees tale of the tape couldn't be more even
How do the Red Sox feel about that fact?
"We knew about it," utilityman Kiké Hernandez said.
Given New York's three-game sweep of Boston at Fenway in September, it was understandable, Hernandez said. The Yankees won their final six meetings with the Red Sox in 2021, but still lost the season series, 10-9, due to Boston's seven-game winning streak against New York to begin the campaign.
Boston Red Sox
Still, it appears Hernandez hasn't forgotten the fact that the Yankees are right where they want to be to begin the postseason.
"They wanted us, they got us," Hernandez said. "Win or go home."