One game. Red Sox-Yankees. Winner advances. Loser goes home.
October 2. Just like in 1978.
Gulp.
Let’s hope this one ends in better fashion for the Olde Towne Team.
The Yankees beat the Sox in the Bronx on Wednesday, a thrilling 4-3, wild-card joust that squared this best-of-three at 1-1. New York scored the winning run off Garrett Whitlock in the bottom of the eighth when Jazz Chisholm Jr. (part Mickey Rivers, part Enos Slaughter) scored from first on a two-out single to right by Austin Wells.
Unlike 1978, when the starting pitchers were Mike Torrez and Ron Guidry, the starting pitchers in the Bronx on Thursday will be baby-faced Sox lefty Connelly Early (23 years old, four big league games) and 24-year-old Yankee rookie righty Cam Schlittler (14 big league games). For the right to start a best-of-five Division Series in Toronto on Saturday.
The Sox can still win this series, of course, but Boston fans are kind of a mess at this hour. Now that the baseball calendar has turned to October, Alex Cora’s starting rotation, bullpen, and lineup are all severely compromised.
Read Dan Shaughnessy's full column at Globe.com/Sports. | 
