NEW YORK – Fourteen years later, the greatest comeback in sports history finally gets its sequel. The players from the 2004 American League Championship Series are long retired, the highlight reels worn from overuse, the lore well-established. And yet for all the billions in salary they’ve spent and all the stars they’ve grown and imported, the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have not faced one another in the playoffs since Boston overcame a three-games-to-none deficit nearly a decade and a half ago. Friday will change that. The Yankees ambushed the Oakland A’s in the AL wild-card game Wednesday night, riding monster home runs from Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton and 13 strikeouts from their pitching staff to a 7-2 victory. Starting in the middle innings, the crowd of 49,620 at Yankee Stadium chanted: “We want Bos-ton!” No, it wouldn’t be for a World Series berth like any of their previous three playoff matchups, but the message was clear. Yankees-Red Sox is back. And the baseball world will be rapt with attention. An expected struggle for the American League East championship turned into a runaway crowning of the 108-win Red Sox. The Yankees weren’t slouches by any means, winning 100 games and securing home-field advantage in the wild-card game, where they’d face an A’s team that won 97 games despite not having a starting pitcher it considered worthy to face New York. The New York Yankees will play the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS. (Getty Images) Instead, the A’s went with reliever Liam Hendriks as its so-called opener. The only thing Hendriks opened was a deficit. On his ninth pitch of the game, Judge turned around a 96-mph fastball at 116 mph. The ball soared through a perfect night at Yankee Stadium: the weather temperate, the crowd hot, even the gags on the jumbotron slightly amusing. It landed nearly 430 feet later and put the Yankees on top, 2-0. Starter Luis Severino, who bombed in last year’s wild-card game, threw four of the shakiest shutout innings imaginable. His stuff was top notch, his command not so much. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third inning, then gave up back-to-back singles to start the fifth. Dellin Betances, who was so awful last fall he sat for most of the Yankees’ run to the AL Championship Series, cleaned up Severino’s mess and worked another scoreless inning. Meanwhile, the Yankees were securing their spot in the division series against Boston. Back-to-back doubles from Judge and Aaron Hicks to start the sixth extended their lead to three runs. Hicks and Stanton, who walked, scored on Luke Voit’s Yankee Stadium special, a high-arcing triple off the short-porch right-field wall. When Voit scored on a sacrifice fly, it was 6-0. Major league home run leader Khris Davis did his best to bring the A’s back into the game with a two-run home run to right field. Then Stanton dropped the coup de grace: a 443-foot moonshot down the left-field line that left his bat even harder than Judge’s, 117 mph. It was almost a warning shot to Boston: You may have Mookie Betts, J.D. Martinez and others. Don’t sleep on us. The Red Sox wouldn’t dare. They saw the Yankees 19 times this season and understand in a best-of-five series, the better team can falter. They know that when Chris Sale throws the first pitch at Fenway Park on Friday at 7:32 p.m. ET, all the talk of 2004 goes away. They’re here to make new memories. More from Yahoo Sports: • Jets RB’s vulgar celebration prompts fine, endorsement • ‘Pitiful’ display by adults at Pee Wee football game • Jeff Passan: After embarrassing playoffs exit, Cubs reflect • NFL suspends Seattle’s Kendricks indefinitely<doc-sep>Game 4 of the American League Division Series was a tense affair with an even tenser ending — the Yankees were down 4-1, and they made it real, real terrifying for the Red Sox and their fans at the end, and gave their own fans all the hope in the world. It wasn’t to be, though, and the Red Sox held on. They’ll now advance to the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros, which will begin on Saturday in Boston. We live blogged the whole thing, so if you want the blow-by-agonizing-blow of this Game 4, there it is, starting... now. Red Sox vs. Yankees ALDS Game 4 Live Results Want to read this live blog from the beginning? Scroll down to the “1st inning” marker and work your way back up! 9th inning: Aroldis Chapman is on the mound, trying to hold the Red Sox lead to 4-1. He’ll be facing the heart of Boston’s order, and he starts out fine by getting Pearce to fly out to right. J.D. Martinez follows up with a ground out on the very next pitch, and that brings up Bogaerts with two down. Bogaerts shows a bit more patience, and works a 3-2 count against Chapman. He strikes out looking, though, and we’re off to the bottom of the ninth: the Yankees’ last chance to come back and keep the series alive. They’ll have to do it against Kimbrel, and they’ll send Judge, Gregorius, and Stanton to the plate. That’s certainly the guys you want up in this situation. Kimbrel opens by missing with a couple of curves and a fastball, and he walks Judge on four pitches. Here’s Gregorius with a runner on. And he singles, moving Judge into scoring position. Here comes Giancarlo Stanton with a big ole narrative hanging over his head. Stanton hasn’t had a very good postseason series, his first ever. He’s the huge acquisition of the offseason. Here’s the moment where he can make everyone forget anything they’ve said about him, his True Yankee™ initiation. A called strike and a swinging strike open up the at-bat. Kimbrel goes high with a fastball next, 1-2. Stanton goes down swinging on a pitch low and out of the zone. One down, here’s Luke Voit with two runners still on. Voit is certainly capable of going deep, too — this lineup might have been quiet most of tonight, but it is still dangerous and never-ending. Kimbrel is up to 15 pitches, and Voit is ahead in the count 3-0. Kimbrel just misses with a 99 mph fastball, and Voit loads the bases with a walk. Neil Walker is now up, representing the winning win. The Yankees use Adeiny Hechavarria as the pinch-runner for Voit. Kimbrel then hits Walker with a pitch, and it’s 4-2, and here comes Gary Sánchez with the bases still loaded. Kimbrel gets him swinging at the first and second pitch, but Sánchez holds back on the third pitch, and Vazquez blocks it well enough to earn extensive praise from the booth. It’s now a 2-2 count after a foul and another ball: Kimbrel is at 22 pitches. 23 pitches, and it’s a full count. Sánchez hits a huuuuuge fly ball to the warning track in right field, and it’s a sac fly — he nearly won the game there, but the Yankees are now only down by one run, and rookie sensation Gleyber Torres gets his chance to tie this up or win it for the Yankees. Yankees are down to their last out. Torres takes ball one. Runners on first and second, score is 4-3. Kimbrel goes 96 mph, and it’s a 1-1 count. Torres swings through strike two, and Boston is one strike away from advancing to the ALCS — the Yankees one good swing away from halting that advance. Slow roller hit to Núñez, who maybe, maybe gets to first in time to end the game and the series — there’s a challenge on the field. The call on the field is safe, but let’s see what the video review says. Early looks show it as an out like it was called on the field, but nothing is official yet, and that’s just the angle TV had to provide. It’s an out! The Red Sox win, 4-3, and will advance to the American League Championship Series to face the Houston Astros for a rematch of last year’s ALDS. 8th inning: Chris Sale is warming up or the Red Sox, presumably to throw the eighth inning. This makes sense: Sale would start Game 5 if there was one, and he would also be the Game 1 starter in the ALCS should Boston make it there by winning Game 4. Getting him an inning or even part of an inning to get to Kimbrel won’t interrupt any of that. It’s Kinsler, Núñez, and Bradley in the top of the eighth. Kinsler strikes out in just four pitches, which isn’t giving Sale very much time to warm up. Betances goes up and in on Núñez — it was not supposed to go there, but he pulled some Matrix shit to avoid it, anyway. Núñez follows up that scare with a double to the corner in left field, giving Boston a runner in scoring position late. Bradley grounds right to Voit, but he can’t corral it, and JBJ is safe at first — Núñez moves over to third. That’s two on for Vazquez, who hit a homer earlier. Which is my way of saying don’t expect something here against Betances from the light-hitting backstop. Bradley steals on the 0-2 pitch, moving a second runner into scoring position. It’s a 1-2 count to Vazquez, with one out and the top of the order coming. Here’s another mound visit between Betances and Sánchez — they can’t seem to get on the same page here. The visit paid off! Betances leaves a breaking ball up and in, in the strike zone, and Vazquez has an embarrassing-but-understandable whiff at it. Betts is intentionally walked to load the bases for Benintendi, giving the Yankees back the force at every base and allowing them to avoid facing the potential MVP. It works, but it also worked in part because Angel Hernandez just called a low, outside pitch a strike. All we asked for was consistency, Angel. It’s 4-1, Red Sox, and Chris Sale is indeed coming in to pitch as the last steps on the bridge to Kimbrel. He’ll be facing Torres, Gardner, and the top of the order, Hicks. Kimbrel is already warming in the pen — I’d imagine he’ll try for more than a three-out save if necessary, but the idea of Sale is to try to make it so that won’t be. Torres flies out on the warning track in right-center, and that brings in pinch-hitter Andrew McCutchen in place of Gardner. The Yankees have five outs left in their season, barring a few runs here. A few runs they are very capable of scoring, regardless of whether it’s Sale or Kimbrel on the mound. It’s not to be for McCutchen, though, as he grounds out to Núñez. I totally understand the Yankees’ plan of “hit it to Núñez until he screws up.” Hicks strikes out on three pitches, and the bridge to Kimbrel is complete. The Yankees have three outs left, and the Red Sox are up 4-1. 7th inning: Robertson remains in the game, which is no surprise since it only took a dozen pitches for him to get through the Sox last inning. He gets Benintendi down 0-2 in a hurry. Dellin Betances is warming, though, likely for the eighth. Benintendi goes down swinging. Pearce is still in the game even with Sabathia out, given Moreland’s hamstring injury. It takes eight pitches, but he strikes out on a check swing attempt. Ryan Brasier is warming in Boston’s bullpen — it’s unclear if Barnes will come back out and Brasier will take over, or if Brasier will start fresh. Martinez works a full count, and Robertson is at 29 pitches. This might be the last batter for him, out or no. Martinez heads to first on a free pass, and I was right — Boone is walking to the mound now to remove Robertson in favor of Betances. Great appearance by Robertson, though: he struck out four batters and picked up five outs. Betances had another fantastic season in relief, but this time around, he finished a lot stronger, so he’s been used in big spots in the postseason. He’ll face Bogaerts with two outs and Martinez on first. A pitch gets through to the backstop, and Martinez moves into scoring position. It doesn’t matter, because Bogaerts then grounds out to short. The Yankees will bring Voit, Walker, and Sánchez to the plate this inning to try to cut down this 4-1 lead, and they’ll do it against Ryan Brasier, not Matt Barnes. Voit makes Brasier throw seven pitches, but eventually flies out to Betts all the way out at the wall in foul territory. Neil Walker is the next in line to hit a foul ball that looked like it had a chance at being a homer. Walker strikes out, and here it is: the matchup you’ve all been waiting for. Brasier vs. Sánchez, the guy Brasier told to get back in “the fucking [batters] box” the last time they faced each other, and then struck out. A revenge homer here would certainly galvanize the Yankees and their fans in this stadium, who hate Brasier a lot more today than they did a week ago. Sánchez pops out this time, though, so like in Game 2, he’ll have to get his revenge on Brasier off of another Red Sox pitcher. It’s 4-1, Red Sox, after six. 6th inning: David Robertson has entered the game in place of Britton. He’ll be facing the rest of the bottom of Boston’s order. Porcello might also be done for the night, as he’s not in his usual dugout spot, and Barnes is back up in the pen. Bradley grounds out for the first out, while Vazquez punches out looking. Ron Darling, one of Game 4’s announcer, is saying he’d push Porcello another inning, given Boston’s bullpen issues. While I totally get that reasoning, Porcello left multiple hanging breaking balls up there last inning, and started missing his spots. He just got away with it facing the bottom of New York’s order: not pressing your luck against Judge, Gregorius, and Stanton seems entirely defensible. Robertson strikes out Betts, and that’s that for the top of the inning. It will indeed be Barnes on the mound to face Judge and Co. here in the bottom half of the sixth. Judge works a full count, as Barnes isn’t going right after him and Judge has a good eye. Judge grounds out after swinging at what was ball four on the previous pitch. Gregorius pops up to the mound, and Núñez catches it because pitchers fielding is weird. Stanton grounds out, and Barnes’ first inning of work is a clean 1-2-3. It’s still 4-1, Boston. 5th inning: Britton is back out for the top of the fifth inning, and he’ll be facing J.D. Martinez first. Martinez is six pitches into an at-bat here, and has Britton at 20 pitches — no one is warming for the Yankees, but it feels like they’ll get up soon. Martinez ends up grounding out to Gregorius, so one down. Britton just maybe cost the Yankees an out — maybe — because he deflected a bouncing ball in play, and it gave Bogaerts time to get to first. The play might not have been made even without the deflection, though: if Britton couldn’t field it clean, it was probably a single regardless. Kinsler strikes out, and there is action in the New York pen. They won’t need it in the fifth, as Britton ends the top of the frame with a fly out to right. It’ll be Walker, Sánchez, and Torres this inning against Porcello. Walker flies out to center, nearly right to Bradley. Sánchez nearly hits a homer to left on the first pitch of the at-bat, a slider that hung up there just a little too long.<doc-sep>
NEW YORK — There was no debating the better team all year, and there was no debating the better team in this series. The 108-win Red Sox entered the postseason with more questions than the SATs while the wild card Yankees looked like a team nobody wanted to face in October. And yet it was the Sox who looked like juggernauts by the time the American League Division Series was finished last night at Yankee Stadium. Rick Porcello earned his first win in a playoff start, Christian Vazquez hit his first home run since June 26 and Chris Sale pitched the eighth inning in a bizarro Game 4 victory, 4-3, that secured the Red Sox’ first playoff series win since 2013. Next up: the world champion Houston Astros in the seven-game American League Championship Series that will begin Saturday night at Fenway Park. “Coming in here, Yankee Stadium, a lot of guys doubted us," shortstop Xander Bogaerts said. "A lot of guys doubted us. I had the off day, and I turned on the TV, everything is, ‘Yankees winning in four. Yankees in four.’ I'm like, ‘What is going on?’ No one is picking the Red Sox, but all of us in here picked ourselves, and it was fun. … How can we have 108 wins and they'll be like the Yankees are going to win in four? I don't understand." Red Sox owner John Henry also felt the Red Sox were written off coming into Yankee Stadium on Monday. "It felt like the media thought when it was 1-1 that we were down 0-2," he said. "That’s what I was reading. That was the feeling. But I think the media from the first day of spring training was pretty negative, even though we won the division two years in a row. Just needed to be a little more aggressive in our approach because these guys are so talented, they just needed somebody to say, 'Go get 'em.' "And they went and got them this year, all year long." The Sox out-classed the Yankees with better performances in every phase during these four games, but they’ll go into the ALCS with a particular confidence in their starting rotation, which allowed just seven runs in 19 innings (3.32 ERA). Yankees starters pitched just 13 innings and gave up an astounding 15 runs. It’s hard to argue there’s a more important development after the Red Sox starting rotation had a 10.96 ERA in seven postseason games combined in 2016 and '17. “We got used to pitching in the playoffs,” pitching coach Dana LeVangie said. “Chris Sale’s first time, his first start was in Houston last year. He settled his nerves a little bit. Rick Porcello is growing up. He’s comfortable where he’s at. He’s trusting himself. Nathan Eovaldi, first time, but Nathan is the same guy regardless of what day it is, it doesn’t matter. Same guy all the time.” Porcello carried the torch for five innings of one-run ball against the Yankees last night after Sale threw 5? innings (two runs) in Game 1 and Nathan Eovaldi threw the gem of the series with seven innings (one run) in Game 3. A pending free agent, Eovaldi “made himself a lot of money,” LeVangie said. But he also might have earned a promotion to start Game 2 against the Astros at Fenway Park on Sunday in place of David Price, whose teams are now 0-10 in his 10 career postseason starts. “I don’t know about that, but Nathan is just, his calming influence allows him to have success in these big games,” LeVangie said. The Red Sox bullpen threw 17 innings and allowed seven runs. The Yankees bullpen was the class of the league, with four proven closers ready to come out at any time. They had a 3.38 ERA in the regular season. And the Red Sox plated 12 runs off them in 17 innings this series. Alex Cora managed circles around Aaron Boone, whose head might not stop spinning until spring training. It’s possible Cora didn’t make a single mistake this series. And if he did, it’ll be overshadowed by his bullpen maneuvering in Game 1, lineup decisions in Games 3 (Brock Holt) and 4 (Ian Kinsler, Eduardo Nunez and Vazquez) and bullpen usage last night. Kinsler hit a line drive to score the second run, and Nunez singled to drive in the third in the third inning. Vazquez hit a home run off Zach Britton in the fourth.