With the righthander on the mound for the Sox, the Yankees will likely have lefthanded batters Ben Rice, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Ryan McMahon back on the field. All three were out of the starting lineup for Game 1 against Crochet, although Chisholm made an appearance as a pinch-hitter.
The Yankees will counter with lefthander Carlos Rodón, who posted a career-high 18 wins this season. He went 1-2 with a 5.60 ERA in four postseason appearances for the Yankees last season.
“We have a tough one tomorrow again,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after Game 1. “Rodon has been amazing throughout this season. They are obviously going to have their lefthanded hitters in the lineup. We have Brayan, who likes it here, pitched well here throughout his career. I expect the game to be just like this one.”
Here is a preview.
RED SOX (89-73): Refsnyder DH, Story SS, Bregman 3B, Gonzalez 1B, Narváez C, Eaton RF, Duran LF, Rafaela CF, Sogard 2B
Pitching: RHP Brayan Bello (11-9, 3.35 ERA)
YANKEES (94-68): Grisham CF, Judge RF, Bellinger LF, Rice 1B, Stanton DH, Chisholm Jr. 2B, Wells C, Volpe SS,, McMahon 3B
Pitching: LHP Carlos Rodón (18-9, 3.09 ERA)
Time: 6:08 p.m.
TV, radio: ESPN, WEEI-FM 93.7
Red Sox vs. Rodón: Roman Anthony 0-3, Alex Bregman 4-16, Kristian Campbell 1-2, Jarren Duran 2-16, Nate Eaton 0-2, Jhostynxon Garcia 0-1, Romy González 1-13, Nathaniel Lowe 0-3, Carlos Narváez 3-6, Ceddanne Rafaela 3-14, Rob Refsnyder 6-17, Trevor Story 2-10, Connor Wong 4-10, Masataka Yoshida 1-6
Yankees vs. Bello: Cody Bellinger 4-10, José Caballero 4-9, Jazz Chisholm Jr. 5-15, Jasson Domínguez 0-8, J.C. Escarra 0-2, Paul Goldschmidt 1-3, Trent Grisham 3-9, Aaron Judge 2-21, Ryan McMahon 0-8, Ben Rice 3-11, Amed Rosario 0-3, Giancarlo Stanton 2-10, Anthony Volpe 6-17, Austin Wells 1-8
Stat of the day: Bello is 3-1 with a 1.44 ERA in five starts at Yankee Stadium.
Notes: If the Red Sox win tonight, they will next face the Blue Jays in the divisional round, beginning Saturday at Toronto. …The Sox are 9-1 in their last 10 playoff games with the Yankees, beginning with Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. … Bello struggled in his last three starts to end the season, going 0-3 with a 5.79 ERA. … He is 5-4 with a 2.35 ERA in 11 starts against the Yankees, including 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA in three appearances this season. … The one loss came on Sept. 13 when he allowed four runs on five hits in five innings in a 5-3 setback. … Rodón held opponents to an AL-best .188 batting average. … He went 7-2 with a 2.43 ERA in his last nine starts, and was 1-2 with a 5.74 ERA in three starts against the Red Sox this season. … The one win came on Aug. 24 when he allowed just one hit in 5⅔ innings in a game the Yankees prevailed, 7-2.
Material from Field Level Media was used in this report.
Read more about the Red Sox’ Game 1 win over the Yankees
Follow Andrew Mahoney @GlobeMahoney.
