The Boston Red Sox weren't exactly focused on the New York Yankees when they were fighting just to play in the Wild Card game, but they heard them loud and clear.
On Sunday, it was revealed the Yankees chose to play against the Red Sox in Game 163 instead of the Toronto Blue Jays in the event of a four-way tie. That decision came one week after New York swept Boston in a three-game series at Fenway Park.
Tomase: To understand magic of Tuesday at Fenway, start with Dalbec
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SIGN UP HERE While the tiebreaker wasn't necessary, the Yankees still got their wish as the two teams faced off in Tuesday night's American League Wild Card game. The result? A 6-2 win for Boston after Nathan Eovaldi outdueled Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, who lasted only two innings.
Sox utility man Kiké Hernandez said before the game he and his teammates knew about the Yankees' request. Afterward, he had more to say about the team that entered the 2021 season as heavy American League East favorites.
"We weren’t worried about the Yankees, to be honest with you," Hernandez told WEEI.com. "We were aware that the Yankees chose us in case there was a four-way tie, but given our situation we didn’t even have time to talk about the Yankees because we needed to focus on ourselves and we needed to focus on Washington and we needed to win all three games, otherwise we could have been out of it.
"We never really sat down and talked about the fact that the Yankees want us at Fenway or anything like that. But they wanted us, they got us and they didn’t get it done. We got it done. Just like they say, be careful what you wish for."
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Another lesson learned for the Yankees, who have had a knack for regretfully giving their archrival bulletin board material.
Hernandez and the Red Sox won't have much time to celebrate their Wild Card win with the Division Series set to begin Thursday night. They'll have their work cut out for them vs. the AL East-winning Tampa Bay Rays, who finished 100-62 on the campaign and 11-8 against Boston.
Game 1 of the five-game series is scheduled for 8:07 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field.
