No rush, playoffs set: Yanks-Red Sox, Giants win West – Boston News, Weather, Sports



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Rafael Devers delivered a jackpot for the Boston Red Sox. Aaron Judge has done just enough for the New York Yankees. And Buster Posey propelled the San Francisco Giants to the NL West crown, dropping the Dodgers to 106 wins in a dangerous wild game.

In a flash, the Major League Baseball playoff field was settled on Sunday.

No crazy tie-breaking scenarios. No chaos on the last day. And for the fans who wanted drama, no problem, it’s on deck.

Yankees-Red Sox to start the playoffs in an all-or-nothing duel in October at Fenway Park. Seems familiar?

“We will be ready,” said Boston manager Alex Cora. “It should be fun.”

Boston and New York both scored the winning point in the ninth inning of Game 162 to seal their spots in the game against the AL wild cards on Tuesday night, as Yankees ace Gerrit Cole v Nathan Eovaldi.

So, until then, expect to see endless reruns of Bucky Dent’s home run against the Green Monster that lifted the Yankees up against Boston in their famous one-game meeting in 1978 for the AL East title. .

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and his Toronto Blue Jays, as well as the Seattle Mariners, were excluded from this year’s playoff night; they each needed a loss to the Red Sox or the Yankees to stand a chance.

“Unfortunately, our fate was in the hands of another team,” said George Springer, who scored two homers in Toronto’s victory over Baltimore. “We were hoping for something, but obviously that didn’t happen.”

The Giants won the NL West with their 107th franchise-record victory, putting San Diego 11-4 behind Posey’s three RBIs. They needed all of those wins to fend off the World Series champions Dodgers.

“You’re going to have a hard time seeing another race like this for quite a while,” said Posey, the three-time receiving champion who sidelined last season due to COVID-19 issues.

The Dodgers fell in the National League Wildcard game on Wednesday night as they host the St. Louis Cardinals. Tilt quite clear too: Max Scherzer against Adam Wainwright.

The best-of-five divisional series debuts Thursday with a pair of AL games.

It will be Hall of Fame director Tony La Russa, 76, leading the Chicago White Sox to Houston to compete with skipper Dusty Baker, 72, and the Astros.

In addition, 20-year-old rookie sensation Wander Franco and the Tampa Bay Rays will host the AL wild card winner.

The NL Series kicks off on Friday with Charlie Morton and the Atlanta Braves visiting pitcher-rich Corbin Burnes and the Milwaukee Brewers still chasing their first World Series crown.

Posey and the Giants will play the wildcard winner at Oracle Park.

By design, the 15 games of the final day of the regular season started around the same time. This was set up to create a back and forth game, round by round.

And the possibility of a tangle was great: the Yankees and Red Sox started the afternoon tied for the two AL jokers, with Toronto and Seattle one game behind.

Led 5-1 at the start of the sixth round in Washington, the Red Sox rallied. Devers pitched his second home homer of the game, a decisive two-run workout in the ninth that capped a four-hit, four-RBI performance in a 7-5 victory.

At Yankee Stadium, it was scoreless until the ninth. With one out and runners in the second and third, Judge hit a liner on reliever Andrew Kittredge’s glove for a single and, remarkably, his first career hit in the majors.

“I wouldn’t say we’ve expired,” Judge said. “We still have a lot of work to do. “

Guerrero hit his 48th home run, tying Kansas City wide receiver Salvador Perez for the major league lead, and Springer notched a grand slam and solo shot in a 12-4 loss to the Orioles.

The Mariners’ 20-year playoff drought continued when Shohei Ohtani hit his 46th homerun and hit 100 RBIs as the Los Angeles Angels beat Seattle 7-3.

“I was really hoping the other two games, we would get a few losses for ourselves and then go ahead and win, so that was the ultimate goal,” said the Mariners infielder. Kyle Seager.

(Copyright (c) 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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