Red Sox-Yankees in October is like being from New Jersey: You either get it or you don’t.
If you are a baseball fan and don’t get what is at stake Monday night in Game 3 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium with the best-of-five affair tied 1-1, double up on the bourbon.
Had the Yankees or Red Sox won the first two games, Monday’s tilt would have lost some juice. Because the Red Sox won Game 1 when Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres failed to hit in the clutch, and the Yankees copped Game 2 by punishing David Price again, Game 3 falls into the category of “The Biggest Game Of The Year’’ for each club because the winner moves nine innings away from advancing to the ALCS.
That it is being played in The Bronx, where the Yankees’ 53-28 regular-season record was the second-best home mark in baseball (Boston’s 57-41 was tops), should provide a boost for the home team. Also helping is that the Yankees have won their last seven postseason games played at home.
So, expect the atmosphere to be charged to the max.
“I think the connection that our fan base and our fans now have with our players is a special one and now you put it in the postseason and you bring the Red Sox, I think the atmosphere is going to be special, electric, whatever you want to put on it,’’ Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Hopefully we can give them a reason to keep building as the game unfolds.’’
Center fielder Aaron Hicks, who expects to play in Game 3 after sitting out Game 2 with a hamstring issue, hears from competitors what problems a loud Yankee Stadium causes visitors.
“I hear guys all the time say how hard it is to play here,’’ Hicks said. “For us to be on the other side, kind of getting excited about our games and getting some energy toward playing, it just helps us play better.’’
Nathan Eovaldi, who starts for the Red Sox on Monday night, was a Yankee from 2015-16 and left for the Rays as a free agent following a second Tommy John surgery that cost him the 2017 season. He was dealt to the Red Sox on July 25. The hard-throwing, and at times erratic, right-hander has faced the Yankees three times this season, twice with the Red Sox, and is 1-1 with a 2.11 ERA.
He ignores the Public Relations Line No. 1 when asked about the importance of such a pivotal game.
“This is what we play for, coming out of spring training and preparing for this moment,’’ said Eovaldi, who was 20-17 with a 4.30 ERA in 60 starts for the Yankees. “It’s definitely, probably, the most important game I have ever pitched in. We need to win and that way we can be ready for Game 4.
Aaron Boone tabbed Luis Severino to start Game 3 and has veteran lefty CC Sabathia scheduled to start Game 4 Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium. Alex Cora plans to send Jersey native Rick Porcello out for Game 4.
Should a Game 5 be required, it will be J.A. Happ against Chris Sale at Fenway Park in a winner-take-all situation.
However, before that delicious event can take place, there is Monday night and the first time the Red Sox and Yankees have tangled in October in The Bronx in 14 years — since Boston capped its ALCS comeback from a 3-0 deficit.
As for the bedlam that awaits. you either get it or you don’t.
