The Boston Red Sox are back in the playoffs for the first time in four years and will square off with the New York Yankees in the American League Wild Card round. The two rivals will duke it out for a chance at more October baseball, with the best-of-three series taking place at Yankee Stadium.

The battle in the Bronx will get underway on Tuesday night at 6:08 p.m., when both teams send their ace to the mound. Game 1 is incredibly important in these short, nearly unpredictable Wild Card series, so we should get a treat when Garrett Crochet takes on Max Fried to kick things off.

The Red Sox had the upper hand over the Yankees in the regular season, when they won nine of the 13 matchups. Boston wasn't intimidated by Yankee Stadium either, going 5-2 at the home of the Evil Empire.

But after winning eight of the first nine games against the Yankees and outscoring them by a 54-31 margin, the Red Sox stumbled in the final four matchups. New York's pitching held Boston's offense to just a dozen runs over those final meetings, when the Yankees avoided a sweep in New York and took two of three in Boston to retake control of the top Wild Card spot.

Now we'll get another entry in this historic rivalry. This will mark the sixth time the Red Sox and the Yankees go to battle in the MLB playoffs. Boston won the latest matchup in the 2021 Wild Card Game at Fenway Park. 

The Wild Card round is now a best-of-three series, which should make for another thrilling chapter in baseball's best rivalry. Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming series:

Red Sox vs. Yankees pitching matchups

Game 1: Garrett Crochet (18-5, 2.59 ERA) vs. Max Fried (19-5, 2.86 ERA)

The Red Sox will have their ace on the mound in Game 1 when Crochet makes his first-ever postseason start. He made a few playoff appearances out of the bullpen for the White Sox a few years ago, but won't be drawing much from those outings.

"I just remember it sucks to lose," Crochet said Monday.

Spoken like a true ace. That man is programmed for the front of a rotation.

The Yankees will also have their ace on the mound in Fried, but he's no stranger to the playoffs. Fried has made 12 playoff starts over his career and won a World Series ring with the Atlanta Braves in 2021. But the playoffs haven't been too kind to the lefty, who owns a 2-5 record to go with a 5.10 ERA and 1.49 WHIP over his 20 postseason games. He went 0-2 with an 11.86 ERA over his last three playoff starts while he was with Atlanta.

As for how he did against Boston during the regular season, Fried went 1-1 with a 1.96 ERA and .271 batting average against in his three starts against the Red Sox. 

Crochet faced the Yankees four times during the regular season, and the Red Sox won all four of those games. The lefty was lights out in two of those appearances. 

Boston's ace tossed seven innings of one-run ball in a 12-1 win at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 23, when he fanned 11 batters. He nearly pitched a complete-game shutout at Fenway Park on June 13, but Aaron Judge took him deep in the top of the ninth. The Red Sox won, 2-1, in 10 innings.

In his first start against the Yankees, which came on June 7 in New York, Crochet allowed five runs off six hits over six innings. But he got the win as the Red Sox bats erupted for 10 runs, including a five-run third inning against Ryan Yabrough. Crochet also got the win in his Sept. 14 start against the Yankees, when he allowed three runs (including homers to Judge and Amed Rosario) in a 6-4 Boston win at Fenway Park.

Overall, Crochet was 3-0 with a 3.29 ERA and 39 strikeouts over 27.1 innings against the Yankees. New York batters hit just .200 against Crochet, though they did leave the yard five times against the Boston southpaw.

Crochet was everything the Red Sox could have hoped for during the regular season. Game 1 of a playoff series is imperative, especially on the road, but Boston has to feel great about having its ace on the bump in New York. 

Crochet has no shortage of confidence heading into Tuesday's start.

"I've always wanted to be the guy to throw a Game 1 of a playoff series. So to be here now comes as no surprise," he said.

Game 2: Brayan Bello (11-9, 3.35 ERA) vs. Carlos Rodon (18-9, 3.09 ERA)

Wednesday night will be Bello's playoff debut. He made three starts against the Yankees in the regular season, and went 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA and 17 strikeouts over 19 innings. New York batters hit just .172 against Bello.

Bello's first two starts against the Yankees were two of his best in the regular season. He tossed seven innings of shutout ball in his duel against Fried at Fenway Park on June 15, and then tossed another seven shutout innings when he matched up against Fried again at Yankee Stadium on Aug. 22. The Red Sox scored just three runs in those two games, but won both.

Bello took a loss against the Yankees on Sept. 13 at Fenway Park, when he surrendered four runs off five hits and three walks over five innings in a 5-3 defeat. 

Rodon has five postseason starts to his name, including four with the Yankees in last year's run to the World Series. But he's just 1-3 with a 6.64 ERA in the playoffs.

The Yankees lefty went 1-2 against Boston in the regular season, when he allowed 10 earned runs in his 15.2 innings pitched for a 5.74 ERA. Both of his loses to the Red Sox came in June, when he gave up eight runs over his 10 innings. He got a W over the Red Sox on Aug. 24 despite issuing five walks, when Rodon limited Boston to two runs and one hit over 5.2 innings.

Game 3: TBA vs. Cam Schlitter (4-3, 2.96 ERA)

If the series goes to a third game, the Yankees will turn to Walpole native Cam Schlitter. The 24-year-old rookie and former Northeastern Husky had a solid debut season for New York, and is coming off seven shutout innings of two-hit ball against the Orioles in his last start. Schlitter struck out nine in his last outing, and touted a 1.22 WHIP for the regular season. 

It's a little more complicated for the Red Sox. Cora revealed Monday that veteran Lucas Giolito won't be on Boston's roster for the Wild Card round, as he's "been battling with his elbow the last few days."

If he has to, Cora could turn to youngsters Connelly Early or Kyle Harrison for Game 3. Both made a starts for Boston in September and neither pitched against the Yankees, so New York would be seeing either for the first time.

Which bats will have the biggest impact in Red Sox vs. Yankees

It starts with Judge for the Yankees, and he took Red Sox pitchers deep five times during the regular season. But he also struck out 22 times in his 49 at-bats against Boston. He may have taken Crochet deep twice, but Judge also whiffed 11 times in his 15 at-bats against Boston's Game 1 starter.

The postseason also hasn't been very kind to Judge, as he's slashed just .205/.318/.450 in his 58 career playoff games. But he's been swinging a real hot bat lately, slashing .412/.568/.863 with seven home runs and 14 RBI over his last 16 games. The stretch started with him hitting .500 (5-for-10) with a pair of homers as the Yankees took two of three at Fenway Park.

And you can't rule out Giancarlo Stanton. He only had five hits in his 19 at-bats against the Red Sox this season, which included a homer and a double. But the 35-year old left the yard 24 times in his 77 games in the regular season, and he's dangerous in the playoffs with 18 home runs and 40 RBI in 41 career games. 

Jazz Chisholm was also bit a thorn in Boston's side during the regular season, living up to his pesky nature. He hit .317 against the Red Sox over 41 at-bats, and clubbed four homers and drove in 13 runs in his 12 games.

But no one else on the Yankees did much against Red Sox pitching, with Cody Bellinger (.239), Ben Rice (.231), Anthony Volpe (.222), Austin Wells (.188), and Trent Grisham (.179) all struggling at the plate against Boston.

New York is all about the long ball, with seven players hitting 20 or more homers. Volpe nearly got there with 19 dingers. But the Yanks are pretty boom or bust, with 1,463 strikeouts during the regular season -- third most in baseball. They either hit the ball a mile or go down swinging.

A number of Red Sox hitters enjoyed success against the Yankees, led by Alex Bregman and his .357/.424/.500 slash line over his seven games against New York. Bregman lives for the postseason, so now is his real time to shine for Boston.

Trevor Story also swung a big bat against New York, with a pair of homers and four doubles to go with 11 RBI over his 13 games. Romy Gonzalez hit .286 against the Yankees with a homer, triple, and three doubles, while Carlos Narvaez hit three homers and drove in seven runs in his 11 games against his former team.

Boston's outfield struggled against New York though, with Jarren Duran hitting just .159 (7-for-44, 16 strikeouts) and Ceddanne Rafaela just .152 (7-for-46) against the Yankees. Masataka Yoshida had just four hits in his 19 at-bats against New York, but he's been hot as of late, going 9-for-24 with a pair of homers and two doubles over his last six games.

The Red Sox offense has been wildly inconsistent since Roman Anthony went down. But even the coldest of bats have come through, as we saw last Friday with Rafaela's walk-off win to clinch a playoff spot. Boston will also have lefty killers in Gonzalez and Rob Refsnyder, who could make a huge difference in the first two games of the series. 

Red Sox bullpen vs. Yankees bullpen

In the battle of the bullpens, the Red Sox have the upper hand. Aroldis Chapman is having his best season at 37 and was nearly unhittable for most of the year. Former Yankee Garrett Whitlock (the last remaining member of the 2021 Red Sox) has been excellent as Boston's bridge to Chapman, and Cora will work his mix-and-match magic with the likes of Justin Slaten, Zack Kelly, Steven Matz, and Greg Weissert.

Boston had the second-best bullpen ERA during the regular season at 3.41. But Boston's best bet to win the series is to have Crochet and Bello go deep and shorten the game for the bullpen. If either get knocked out early, the Red Sox could be in serious trouble.

The Yankees, meanwhile, were a roller coaster with a 4.37 bullpen ERA -- which ranked 23rd in baseball. 

David Bendar was a solid acquisition at the deadline and had a 2.19 ERA with 10 saves in his 22 appearances for the Yankees. He was New York's most reliable reliever along with Luke Weaver, who had a 3.62 ERA in his 62 appearances. Tim Hill was also pretty solid with a 3.09 ERA and 1.10 WHIP over his team-high 70 appearances. 

But the Yankees bullpen can give up some big innings, and the Red Sox need to pounce when given a chance. 

The importance of winning Game 1

There is no room for error in a best-of-three series, and road teams have actually had the upper hand since the format was installed in 2022. Road teams have won eight of the 12 Wild Card series so far.

Game 1 is absolutely massive. Teams that win Game 1 have gone on to win all 12 series in the new format. Ten of those series ended with a quick, two-game sweep. 

How to watch Red Sox vs. Yankees in MLB playoffs

ESPN will carry the first two games of the Red Sox-Yankees Wild Card series. The network's Sunday Night Baseball crew of Karl Ravech, Eduardo Perez, and David Cone will have the call of Games 1 and 2.

What's next for the Red Sox vs. Yankees winner?

The winner of the Red Sox-Yankees series will move on to face the American League East champion Toronto Blue Jays in the ALDS. Game 1 of that series is set for Saturday in Toronto.