NEW YORK — The tarp stayed on the Yankee Stadium infield all Sunday afternoon. Fans in ponchos waited nearly three hours for a first pitch that never came.
More than 1,300 miles south, the Boston Red Sox were playing a home game under a roof in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The New York Yankees open the AL Wild Card Series against Boston at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday in the Bronx. The road to that first pitch has become its own fight.
The late September nor’easter that soaked New York and New England rewrote both clubs’ final weekend. It left the Yankees idle for three straight days. And it handed a best-of-three series a fresh grudge.
How one storm split the rivals
MLB moved early. The Yankees and Orioles were folded into a Friday doubleheader. The Red Sox and Chicago Cubs did the same at Fenway Park.
The Yankees split. Baltimore won the opener 10-2. New York took the nightcap 6-3 as five pitchers combined for 17 strikeouts. Rookie Spencer Jones and Anthony Volpe keyed a three-run sixth inning.
Boston swept Chicago.
That left one game apiece. Yankees-Orioles stayed on Sunday’s calendar. The Red Sox-Cubs finale moved to Tropicana Field, the first time in franchise history a Fenway Park game was relocated to a neutral site.
When the league made that call, the Cubs were still chasing a better Wild Card position. San Diego erased that drama Saturday with a 10-7 win over Arizona to lock up home field against Chicago.
By Sunday, both finales were meaningless. Only one was played. The Cubs beat Boston 6-2 as Alex Bregman went 4-for-4 with two homers and four RBIs against his former club. The Red Sox finished 87-75.
In the Bronx, the game was called about three hours after its scheduled 1:05 p.m. start. It will not be made up. The Yankees finish 93-68.
Red Sox fans see a rigged schedule
That contrast lit up Boston’s corner of social media within hours. Red Sox fans accused MLB of protecting the Yankees and gifting them a rested pitching staff for Game 1.
Their core complaint was simple. If the Yankees’ game could be scrapped, why was Boston’s shipped to Florida? One fan raised that point on X on Sunday.
Andrew, posting as @A_Loadingg, wrote: “So why couldnt the sox game have been PPD? Thats absurd.”
Others went further.
X user @mariannemonaco wrote: “Unbelievable…The @mlb definitely favors the yankees.”
Critics also noted that roofed ballparks, including Houston’s Daikin Park, sat empty Sunday.
The timeline cuts against a conspiracy. Boston’s game was moved while it still carried seeding stakes. The Yankees-Orioles game never did. New York had clinched the top Wild Card spot, and Baltimore finished 79-82.
Boone shrugs as Yankees wait out the storm
Yankees manager Aaron Boone hardly sounded like a man scheming for an edge before the delay.
“The window is in play. Not sure what window that is,” Boone said.
Once the game was called, Boone turned to Boston.
“It’s Yankee Stadium, it’s the Bronx, it’s Red Sox-Yankees,” Boone said.
The rest math nobody is counting
The Yankees last played Friday night. By Tuesday’s first pitch, roughly 96 hours will have passed. Boston gets one off day and a flight north.
On the mound, that gap favors New York. Cam Schlittler and Max Fried threw their final bullpen sessions in Sunday’s rain. Schlittler, 14-6 with an AL-best 1.95 ERA and 239 strikeouts, starts Game 1. Fried follows Wednesday. Gerrit Cole would start a Game 3, with Carlos Rodón in the bullpen.
Schlittler has owned Boston. He went 2-1 with a 0.74 ERA in four starts against the Red Sox this year, holding them to a .174 average with 27 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings.
The lineup is another story. Yankees hitters will see no live pitching for four days. Then they face rookie left-hander Payton Tolle, who held them to a .093 average and a 0.69 ERA in two starts.
Red Sox manager Chad Tracy said Monday he has no concern about the 23-year-old’s nerves.
“I know he’s a rookie, but as far as the way he approaches baseball and big moments, that part won’t bother him,” Tracy said.
The rainout carried a quieter cost. It ended the Yankees’ bid for a third straight 94-68 finish. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no team has posted the same record in three straight seasons.
Last October offers a warning. The Yankees lost Game 1 to Boston at home, then became the first team since the 2022 format change to win a Wild Card Series after dropping the opener.
Judge questions hang over Game 1
The bigger unknown sits in the Yankees lineup. Aaron Judge has been out since Sept. 16 with a strained right calf and appears doubtful. He took live batting practice Monday and is lobbying for a spot.
“I’ve been doing a lot of convincing, I feel like, so I’m going to keep doing that,” Judge said.
The Yankees won the season series 7-6, going 4-2 at the Stadium. The winner meets Tampa Bay in the ALDS, with Games 1 and 2 at Tropicana Field, the same dome the Red Sox left Sunday.
First pitch is set for 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. The storm has passed. The argument has not.
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