The Tampa Bay Rays now know who they will face in the American League Division Series.
The Boston Red Sox won the AL wild-card game Tuesday night by belting two home runs and allowing six hits in a 6-2 win over the New York Yankees.
Xander Bogaerts and Kyle Schwarber went deep in the early innings to help the Red Sox earn a meeting with the Rays.
Nathan Eovaldi was terrific during his 5 1/3 innings of work, scattering four hits and blanking the Yankees until Anthony Rizzo homered in the sixth.
Yankees ace Gerrit Cole was chased in the third inning after serving up the home runs.
The Rays and Red Sox open their best-of-five playoff series at Tropicana Field with Game 1 on Thursday night at 8 p.m. and Game 2 at 7 p.m.
Tampa Bay left-hander Shane McClanahan will start Game 1 and rookie Shane Baz will take the mound for Game 2 on Friday night. Depending on bullpen use in the opening two games, manager Kevin Cash said Drew Rasmussen is the “highly likely” Game 3 starter.
A watch party will be held at the St. Pete Pier for Games 3 and 4.
‼️BREAKING‼️ @StPetePier to host @RaysBaseball ALDS watch parties for Game 3 and Game 4 (if necessary) on Oct. 10 & 11! Come on out and cheer on the home team! #RaysUp #Postseason pic.twitter.com/o17bX8ARcS
— St. Pete/Clearwater (@VSPC) October 5, 2021
Tickets for the AL Division Series are on sale at the Rays' website. All postseason tickets are mobile-only and no paper tickets will be accepted.
Following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, masks will be optional for those fully vaccinated for COVID-19 but will be required for people 2 and older who are NOT vaccinated.
The series winner goes on to face either the Houston Astros or Chicago White Sox in the AL championship series.
The Rays finished the regular season with a record of 100-62, their most wins in a season. The Red Sox and Yankees finished in a tie for second in the AL East at 92-70.
The Rays won the season series against the Red Sox, 11-8.
AL Division Series Schedule:
- Thursday, Oct. 7: Boston at Tampa Bay (McClanahan 10-6), 8:07 p.m. (FS1)
- Friday, Oct. 8: Boston at Tampa Bay, 7:02 p.m. (FS1)
- Sunday, Oct. 10: Tampa Bay at Boston, 4:07 p.m. (MLB)
- x-Monday, Oct. 11: Tampa Bay at Boston, TBD (FS1 or MLB)
- x-Wednesday, Oct. 13: Boston at Tampa Bay, TBD (FS1)
- x-if necessary
WUSF digital news editor Carl Lisciandrello contributed to this report.
