Thursday evening May 10th, Yankees Stadium, NYC: Craig Kimbrel, the Boston Red Sox star closer, has just earned the save for a hard-fought 5-4 Sox victory. The win meant the series ended 2-1 to the Yankees. It was the second series between the hated rivals so far this season, with the Sox winning the first series 2-1 at Fenway Park.
On Thursday, the two sides left Yankees Stadium with the best records in MLB, sitting at 25-11. Both have been incredibly hot during parts of this still-nascent season. The Red Sox, who had that historically good start, the best of any team in over 30 years, have now been deposed by the Yankees as the hottest team in baseball. The Bronx Bombers had won 17 of the previous 18 before the Sox took the final game of the series.
New Life, Old Rivalry: 2018 Yankees and Red Sox
It is now 14 years since the two sides met in the MLB postseason, the fabled Four Days in October of the 2004 ALCS. That’s a long time to wait for the biggest rivals in the sport to meet when it really matters. Of course, both sides have been in the business end of the season since that time, the Sox winning the Fall Classic in 2007 and 2013, the Yankees winning in 2009.
Could 2018 be the year that they clash again? The 2018 Yankees were favoured from the very start of the new season, joining the Astros and Dodgers at around the 6/1 mark to win the World Series. The Dodgers, coached by one of the main protagonists of the 2004 ALCS, Dave Roberts, have really fallen away and will be hard-pressed to catch the NL West leading Diamondbacks.
In the eyes of the sportsbooks, the Red Sox have essentially replaced the Dodgers as the third team in the trio of favourites. The current odds from William Hill are: Astros 6/1, Yankees 6/1, Red Sox 8/1. The Dodgers have fallen way back to 18/1 and the Diamondbacks are 10/1. Things obviously change quickly though, so you can check out the latest betting with Canadian sportsbooks to keep up to date with the latest odds ands promos.
It is, of course, very likely that the Yankees and Red Sox will be in the postseason together this year, although one of them will have to face the tricky wild card game before making the ALDS. One of Seattle, Toronto or Oakland may get the other wild card, but eliminating either the Sox or the Yanks looks a tall order.
It is now confirmed that the Yankees and Red Sox will be cashing in on an ever-growing interest in US sports from the UK by playing a couple of regular season games in London next year. But if the rivalry is to truly continue to flourish, it is the postseason where that should be fuelled. If they keep up the standards they have set so far this season, they may once again write another chapter into that storied enmity.
