Report: Yankees choose Red Sox, not Jays, as tiebreaker opponent

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The New York Yankees have a flair for the dramatic, apparently.

The Yankees have chosen the Boston Red Sox as their opponent in the event of a four-way tie for the two American League Wild Card spots, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Sunday.

New York had the option of choosing to play either the Blue Jays in Toronto or the Red Sox in Boston and selected their longtime rival, per Passan.

Tomase: Red Sox' playoff scenarios entering Game 162, explained

If you're wondering what's going on here, we can explain: The Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Mariners all entered the final day of the regular season Sunday within one game of each other in the AL Wild Card standings.

So, if the Yankees and Red Sox both lose and the Blue Jays and Mariners both win, there would be a four-way tie for two wild card spots. Here's how our John Tomase explained the tiebreaker scenario in his column Sunday:

The clubs would be labeled A, B, C, and D, with A hosting B and C hosting D on Monday. The Red Sox would choose to be Team A and the Blue Jays would be Team C, giving both home games. The Yankees would then decide where they'd rather go, with Seattle getting what's left.

According to Passan, the Yankees have chosen to be "Team B" in the event of a four-way tie.

That decision actually makes sense based on the numbers: While the Red Sox won the regular-season series 10-9, New York has won four consecutive games at Fenway Park, including a three-game sweep of Boston last weekend. Meanwhile, the Yankees are 2-4 in their last six games in Toronto.

There's a good chance this scenario doesn't even play out -- the Red Sox can avoid headache by beating the Washington Nationals in their season finale -- but if it does, a winner-take-all game between the Red Sox and Yankees Monday at Fenway would make for quite the theater.

UPDATE (7 p.m. ET): This scenario didn't play out, but the Yankees still got their wish in a way.

Boston will host New York in the American League Wild Card Game on Tuesday night after the Red Sox and Yankees both won their regular-season finales. The Blue Jays and Mariners have been eliminated.

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