The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are set to play in an epic AL Wild Card game at Fenway Park on Tuesday.
The New York Yankees clinched a spot in the AL Wild Card after beating the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium, 1-0. The Yankees finish the 2021 MLB regular season with a 92-70 record. The Boston Red Sox followed suit to beat the Washington Nationals, 7-5, to clinch the second Wild Card spot with a 92-70 record.
The Seattle Mariners (90-72) and the Toronto Blue Jays (91-71) were officially eliminated from the postseason on Sunday.
Boston Red Sox will host the New York Yankees in AL Wild Card
The last person that the Blue Jays and Mariners wanted to see at-bat for New York in the bottom of the ninth inning with runners on second and third base was Aaron Judge. He hit a one-out single that drove in the winning run.
Following the conclusion of New York’s game, Seattle not only needed to come back and beat the Los Angeles Angels, but also would’ve needed Boston to lose to be in a three-way tie with Boston and Toronto.
Instead, Boston beat the Washington Nationals to finalize the plans for the AL Wild Card game at Fenway Park. Seattle lost to Los Angeles, 7-3.
It doesn’t matter that the Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 12-2, because they were one win short of making the postseason. After the Yankees won, Toronto needed Washington to beat Boston to force a play-in game Monday night with the Red Sox, along with a Mariners loss.
The AL Wild Card game will feature rivals New York and Boston in a one-game series. The winner will continue its postseason run and the loser will go home. Fenway Park will be the place to be on Tuesday night.