The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox renew baseball’s greatest rivalry tonight in Game 1 of the 2025 AL Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
This is the sixth time the two teams have met in the postseason, with Boston leading 3–2 in series wins.
Since Aaron Boone’s walk-off home run in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS, it’s been all Red Sox in head-to-head October matchups.
Crochet vs. Fried: A Pitcher’s Duel on Deck
Tonight’s matchup features two of the American League’s best left-handed starters: Garrett Crochet for Boston and Max Fried for New York. Both enter with nearly 20 wins and sub-3.00 ERAs, setting the stage for a classic October pitcher’s duel.
Crochet capped a Cy Young-caliber regular season at 18–5 with a 2.59 ERA. Still, September brought turbulence — including a rough outing against the Cleveland Guardians in which he gave up seven runs across six innings. Against New York this year, Crochet has been sharp, going 3–0 with a 3.29 ERA in four starts, striking out 39 hitters — nearly 10 per game.
Meanwhile, Fried has utterly dominated Boston in 2025. In three starts, he’s 1–1 with a 1.96 ERA, striking out 22 batters (7.3 per game).
Lineup Choices and Right-Handed Power
Both managers are stacking their lineups with right-handed bats to counter the lefty starters.
Former Yankee Rob Refsnyder leads off for Boston. He’s the DH for Boston tonight instead of the left-handed Masataka Yoshida.
For New York, Paul Goldschmidt bats first. The Yankees opted for him and Amed Rosario over lefties Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Ben Rice, leaning on splits against left-handed pitching. Goldschmidt hit .336 against lefties this year, Rosario .302 — compared to Chisholm’s .248 and Rice’s .208. Rosario is batting .500 (3-for-6) against Crochet with a home run.
The Yankee captain, Aaron Judge, has struggled against Crochet this season, hitting .154 with a whopping 10 strikeouts in 13 at-bats.
Yankees’ Late-Inning Blueprint: Williams to Bednar?
The Yankees will look to ride Fried deep into the game, ideally for seven innings, before handing things over to their shutdown bullpen. The Yankees have found a working late-inning formula down the stretch, with Devin Williams as the setup man and David Bednar in the closer role.
In his last nine appearances, Williams has been untouchable, allowing no runs and just five hits with 12 strikeouts. Bednar was equally dominant in September, with a 1.59 ERA and seven saves in 11 games.
Red Sox-Yankees Prediction
The Yankees have the edge with Fried on the mound and an offense that can change the game with one swing of the bat. Boston’s lack of power makes it harder for them to keep up in a tight, low-scoring contest.
Final Score Prediction: Yankees 3, Red Sox 2
Starting Lineups
Boston Red Sox
1. Rob Refsnyder — DH
2. Trevor Story — SS
3. Alex Bregman — 3B
4. Romy González — 1B
5. Carlos Narváez — C
6. Nate Eaton — RF
7. Jarren Duran — LF
8. Ceddanne Rafaela — CF
9. Nick Sogard — 2B
Starting Pitcher: Garrett Crochet (LHP) — 18-5, 2.59 ERA (2025 Regular Season)
New York Yankees
1. Paul Goldschmidt — 1B
2. Aaron Judge — RF
3. Cody Bellinger — LF
4. Giancarlo Stanton — DH
5. Amed Rosario — 2B
6. Trent Grisham — CF
7. Anthony Volpe — SS
8. Austin Wells — C
9. José Caballero — 3B
Starting Pitcher: Max Fried (LHP) — 19-5, 2.86 ERA (2025 Regular Season)
How to Watch Red Sox vs. Yankees
First pitch for tonight’s game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees is set for 6:08 PM Eastern at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.
The game airs live on ESPN and streams on the ESPN app and website.
If you’re a cord-cutter without an active livestreaming plan, you can watch the game for free by taking advantage of free trials from DIRECTV Stream, Hulu + Live TV, Fubo TV, or YouTube TV.
YouTube TV even offers a 20-minute free preview, without having to register for a trial — if you just want to catch part of the game.
Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees
Date: Tuesday, September 30, 2025
Time: 6:08 PM Eastern
Venue: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
TV: ESPN
Streaming: ESPN app and website
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