Right now, two of the three AL Wild Card spots are held by the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. At this pace, baseball's biggest rivalry will feature postseason stakes for the rest of the season. The Red Sox currently hold the top Wild Card slot, while the Yankees are two and a half games behind them in the final spot. Due to these stakes, the finale of the Yankees-Red Sox weekend series later this month will now be on ESPN's “Sunday Night Baseball.” The company's PR page posted the update on X, formerly Twitter.

“ESPN #SundayNightBaseball schedule update: Sunday August 24, 7p ET/ @RedSox vs @Yankees/ ESPN,” posted the PR page on Thursday afternoon.

The Yankees and Red Sox have seven games left against each other this season: a four-game set ended by their “Sunday Night Baseball” matchup on August 24th, and a three-game series in the middle of September. After Wednesday night's win over the Texas Rangers, the Yankees are looking to right the ship with a six-game homestand versus the Houston Astros and Minnesota Twins. Can New York turn things around and stay in the postseason hunt?

Yankees-Red Sox rivalry heightened by postseason stakes once again

New York Yankees relief pitcher David Bednar (53) is congratulated by catcher Ben Rice (22) after the game against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field.
Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

Wednesday night's win over the Rangers was a gutsy one for the Bronx Bombers. In fact, it's the type of game that fans will see regularly in the postseason. Low scoring and dominated by pitching. Following New York starter Carlos Rodon's five innings, manager Aaron Boone turned to four relievers to win the matchup: Mark Leiter Jr. (who picked up the win); Tim Hill and Yerry de Los Santos for two-thirds of an inning each, and new acquisition David Bednar slammed the door with a five out save.

After trading for Bednar, Camilo Doval and Jake Bird at the trade deadline, the team lost five games in a row before Wednesday's victory. Now, they need to show that they can beat a fellow playoff team in the Houston Astros. If the Yankees can continue their winning ways over the next few weeks, then their “Sunday Night Baseball” clash with the Red Sox could have even higher stakes.

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