Yankees Need to End Long Red Sox Postseason Streak

2021 was another disaster. The Red Sox picked apart Gerrit Cole, who was on his way to his first Cy Young before a hamstring injury cratered those chances. It also cratered him against the Red Sox in the Wild Card game.

With just one more triumph to advance in this best-of-three Wild Card series, the Yankees can finally do something that Joe Torre wasn't able to do in 2004. That is to win one more game, avoiding the debacles of game one.

Joel Sherman put it best in his column after the Yankees took game two of the Wild Card series. He says the team will either prove that they are the "same old Yankees" or demonstrate the ability to take down their longtime nemesis, who has had their number at this time of year.

"Nine innings to either move on or same old Yankees. Nine innings to show that they can stand up in October to someone else in their weight class. Nine innings to fly to Toronto or crumble in an all-too-familiar way at this time of year, which will re-trigger screams for the jobs of Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone and questions about the fortitude of the group in general."

On the mound for the Yankees and Red Sox are two rookies. It is a far cry from the days of Mike Mussina and Pedro Martinez going toe-to-toe, but both show a ton of potential early on in their careers. Cam Schlittler, who converted his family with New England roots to Yankee fans, will face Connelly Early. Early's family is still Red Sox fans, and playing for Boston helps that cause.

The difference between the two is that Schlittler had been preparing for this while Early found out this week he would be the starter in game three when Lucas Giolito went down.

If this is how the Yankees finally end their October woes to Boston, they'll take it. Twenty-one years ago, a ball coming off the bat of Tony Clark took a weird bounce, and a ground rule double ended a rally that would have surely put the Red Sox away in game five of the 2004 ALCS.

Something small changed the direction of two franchises, and another minor footnote could be a deciding factor as well. Either that or Early will rise to the occasion, vanquishing the American League MVP, sending the captain, Aaron Judge, home, without a championship yet again. The generational slugger, husband, future father, and proud dog dad to two beautiful pups has a say in this, though.

Make sure to bookmark Yankees On SI to get all your daily New York Yankees news, interviews, breakdowns and more!

• Jazz Chisholm Clears Air with Yankees Manager
• Yankees Captain Hopeful After Red Sox Loss
• MLB Insider Slams Yankees 'Preprogrammed' Aaron Boone
• Three Players Who Could Help Yankees Avoid Elimination
• Yankees Star Returns to Lineup in Elimination Game