BOSTON — For the third time in their last three trips to the postseason, the Red Sox will face the Yankees in the first round, starting Tuesday.

“It’s New York against Boston,” said manager Alex Cora. “It’s gonna be big.”

The Blue Jays clinched the American League East and a first-round bye with a 13-4 win over the Rays on Sunday, so the Yankees (who beat Baltimore) own the top wild card spot in the AL. The Red Sox clinched the No. 5 seed by beating the Tigers, 4-3, and will therefore travel to Yankee Stadium for the Wild Card Series, a best-of-three set from Tuesday to Thursday (if necessary). Tuesday will mark the beginning of the fifth postseason series (including the 2021 Wild Card Game) between the clubs since 2003.

“As a fan of the game, growing up, you know pretty well about the rivalry and what it means to both cities,” said shortstop Trevor Story. “It’s a special thing. I think it’s the best in all of sports. It’s gonna be special to see them in the postseason.”

Game 1 and Game 2 are both set for 6:08 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. The if-necessary Game 3 is tentatively set for that same time Thursday but things could change depending on what other games are going on around the league.

In Game 1, Boston will pitch ace Garrett Crochet and the Yankees will start lefty Max Fried. That would set up likely Boston starter Brayan Bello to face lefty Carlos Rodón in Game 2 on Tuesday. Lucas Giolito will be an option for the Red Sox if there’s a winner-take-all Game 3. New York would likely choose between Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil and Will Warren for that decisive game.

Cora has taken the Red Sox to the postseason three times in his seven years as manager and in all three seasons, has drawn the Yankees as his first opponent. Boston won the 2018 ALDS in four games then the last postseason game between the clubs in 2021 when the Red Sox won the one-off Wild Card Game, 6-2. Tuesday will be the sixth postseason game in which Cora and his close friend, Aaron Boone, will have managed against each other.

“They have a good team. They have a good rotation,” said Cora. “We know each other, so there’s no secrets. It’s their lefties against our righties. We’ve got Garrett on Tuesday, so it should be fun. I’m looking forward to it.”

Boston went 9-4 against the Yankees this season, dominating the season series early. The Red Sox are 5-2 at Yankee Stadium in 2025. They won series there in June (2 of 3) and August (3 of 4).

“We played great. We played good defense and we pitched well over there,” said Cora. “They tell us where and when, and we’re gonna show up. The guys have done a better job on the road the last month or month-and-a-half. We’ll just go there, have fun and enjoy it.”

In mid-September, the Yankees got a little bit of revenge at Fenway Park, taking two of three in the final series between the clubs. In that set, Cora said, he felt like New York was a more athletic team than the one the Sox had faced earlier in the year. The Yankees went 18-7 in a fantastic September to finish with the same record as the Blue Jays (94-68). Toronto won the head-to-head tiebreaker over New York and therefore took the division (and a first-round bye).

“Obviously, they made some decisions with their personnel,” Cora said, citing some roster decisions made by the Yankees. “(José) Caballero is playing well at short. Running the bases, it’s different. The last team that came here was different in that aspect.”

Crochet, Boston’s Game 1 starter, faced the Yankees twice in his last seven starts of the season, striking out 11 in seven innings (while allowing a single run) in the Bronx on August 23, then punching out 12 in six innings on September 14 at Fenway. The Red Sox won two of three starts made by both Fried and Rodón this season. A Boston lineup that features lefty-mashers Romy Gonzalez and Rob Refsnyder will be tested this week. The Red Sox went 24-21 against lefty starters in the regular season, a drastic improvement from 2024, which saw the club go 17-26 against southpaws.

“We’ve done that throughout the year and we’re gonna keep doing it,” said Cora. “Obviously, we have struggled a little bit but we put good at-bats against Fried and put good at-bats against Rodón throughout the season and we expect to do the same thing.”

The winner of the Red Sox-Yankees series will face the Blue Jays in the ALDS, which begins Saturday in Toronto. Detroit will travel to Cleveland for a best-of-three with the winner of that series going to Seattle for the ALDS.

Only a handful of Red Sox — including Story, Alex Bregman, Nathaniel Lowe, Crochet, Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock — have played in the postseason before. Tuesday will represent the first such experience for many members of Boston’s 26-man roster.

“We’ve got a bunch of guys who haven’t been on this stage. But they have a lot of guys over there who haven’t been on this stage, either,” said Cora. “It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be loud.”

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