NEW YORK -- Baseball's postseason will start with one of its classic rivalries: Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees.
New York will host Boston in a best-of-three wild-card series at Yankee Stadium starting Tuesday, with the winner advancing to an American League Division Series against Tampa Bay. The teams are meeting for the seventh time in the postseason.
"I think it's kind of been in the works here for probably the last month or so," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Friday. "Obviously a tremendous rivalry. The [Red Sox] had a resurgent season after a really difficult start. I think they're really good. I felt that way all year. Also real confident if we play our game and pitch like we're capable of we got a good chance to move on."
The clubs enter next week's series 3-3 all time in postseason matchups. The Yankees beat Boston in the 1999 and 2003 AL Championship Series and last year's wild-card series, while Boston rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win the 2004 ALCS, then won the 2018 ALDS and 2021 wild-card game.
Willson Contreras, who leads the Red Sox with 27 homers and 81 RBIs, is uncertain for the series after he was hit on his right hand by a pitch on Sept. 17.
Boston clinched the second wild card by rallying from a three-run deficit to beat the Cubs in a doubleheader opener. The Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora and five coaches on April 25 after a 10-17 start and rebounded to reach the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2016-2018.
Promoted from Triple-A Worcester to an initial position of interim manager, Chad Tracy was given a three-year contract Tuesday.
Boston was 32-46 and last in the AL East through June 24. A four-game sweep of the Yankees at Fenway Park started a 32-5 stretch that included its first 15-game winning streak since 1946.
In last year's series, Boston won the opener behind an 11-strikeout, 117-pitch performance from Garrett Crochet. The Yankees advanced with a 4-0 victory in Game 3 when Massachusetts native Cam Schlittler struck out 12 in eight innings.
New York won this year's regular-season series 7-6.
"That's what you want as a competitor," Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony said of the matchup. "They're a great team. We're a great team.
"We always play good baseball against them. They play good baseball against us. It's going to be a fun one. Great place to play. For us, where else would you rather be as a competitor?"
The Associated Press contributed to this report.