Yankees vs. Red Sox 2025 Wild Card Series schedule, scores: Where to watch MLB playoff games, TV coverage

Two of Major League Baseball’s biggest blood rivals — the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox — opened their best-of-three American League Wild Card Series on Tuesday. The 94-68 Yankees, by virtue of finishing ahead of the Red Sox in the standings, will have home-field advantage throughout the series. The 89-73 Red Sox, meantime, occupy the second wild card spot in the AL and are the No. 5 seed in that half of the postseason bracket.

In Game 1, Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet dominated the Yankees and Boston got just enough offense, including a two-run single by Masataka Yoshida, to beat the Bombers.

The winner of this series will advance to the Divisional Round, where they’ll play against the Blue Jays, the No. 1 seed in the AL and their other division rival. 

Here’s the Wild Card Series schedule for the Yankees vs. Red Sox:

Where to watch Game 2

Date: Wednesday, Oct. 1 | Time: 6:08 p.m. ET
Location: Yankee Stadium (Bronx, N.Y.)
TV channel: ESPN | Live stream: fubo (Try for free)
Probable pitchers: LHP Carlos Rodón (NYY) vs. RHP Brayan Bello (BOS) 
Odds: NYY -169 | BOS +138 (via DraftKings)

Here’s what you need to know about the Yankees and Red Sox in the Wild Card Series.

Wild Card Series storylines

Yankees: The Yankees were in the mix for a second straight AL East title until the final moments of the regular season, but the Blue Jays’ Sunday win over the Rays meant that the Yanks would cede the flag to Toronto thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker. Had the Yanks prevailed in the division, then they would’ve enjoyed a first-round bye. Instead, they’ll face the dangerous Red Sox in an already dangerous best-of-three series. Last year, the Yankees barged to the pennant before falling to the Dodgers in the World Series in five games. Over the winter, they lost generational free agent Juan Soto to the crosstown Mets, but high-value performances from Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger helped cushion the blow and then some. Besides the usual rotation questions that accompany almost any playoff team, the Yankees’ big subplot will be whether AL MVP candidate Aaron Judge can flip the script on his generalized postseason struggles.

Red Sox: Boston is in the postseason for the first time since 2021 and just the second time since 2018, when they last won the World Series. The challenge for Alex Cora and the Sox will be toppling the Yanks without the services of rookie phenom Roman Anthony. Anthony was perhaps Boston’s best player starting with his June call-up, but an oblique injury suffered in early September will keep him out for at least this opening round. In more general terms, the Red Sox are hoping regular-season trends hold. That’s because they won nine of 13 head-to-head games against the Yankees and outscored them by a margin of 66-51. In games played in the Bronx — where the entirety of this series will take place — the Sox went 5-2.