Yankees vs. Red Sox Playoff History: Every Postseason Meeting

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The Yankees and Red Sox have met six times in the MLB postseason, and the series are split three to three: New York won the 1999 and 2003 ALCS and the 2025 Wild Card Series, while Boston won the 2004 ALCS, the 2018 Division Series and the 2021 Wild Card Game. The 2026 Wild Card Series, starting Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, is their second straight October meeting and the seventh overall. The chart below covers every one.

Yankees vs. Red Sox in October
Every postseason meeting, 1999 to 2026
Six postseason series so far, split three apiece, plus the 1978 tiebreaker that started it all.
3Yankees series wins
3Red Sox series wins
1978
AL East tiebreakerYankees · One gameBucky Dent’s three run homer over the Green Monster lifts New York 5 to 4 at Fenway; the game counts as a regular season game.
YANKEES
1999
ALCSYankees · 4 games to 1The first postseason series between the rivals; New York goes on to win the World Series.
YANKEES
2003
ALCSYankees · 4 games to 3Aaron Boone’s 11th inning walk off homer in Game 7 after Pedro Martinez is left in during the eighth.
YANKEES
2004
ALCSRed Sox · 4 games to 3Boston becomes the first team ever to win a series after trailing 3 games to 0, then wins its first World Series since 1918.
RED SOX
2018
ALDSRed Sox · 3 games to 1Brock Holt hits for the cycle in a 16 to 1 Game 3 win at Yankee Stadium; Boston goes on to win the World Series.
RED SOX
2021
AL Wild Card GameRed Sox · One gameXander Bogaerts and Kyle Schwarber homer in a 6 to 2 win at Fenway Park.
RED SOX
2025
AL Wild Card SeriesYankees · 2 games to 1Cam Schlittler throws eight shutout innings with 12 strikeouts in a 4 to 0 Game 3.
YANKEES
2026
AL Wild Card SeriesIn progress · Best of threeGame 1 is Tuesday, September 29, at Yankee Stadium: Schlittler vs. rookie Payton Tolle.
TONIGHT
The 1978 game was a regular season tiebreaker, not a playoff series, so it is not counted in the series tally.

The Two Game 7s

The rivalry’s peak came in back to back Octobers. In 2003, Aaron Boone ended the ALCS with an 11th inning home run off Tim Wakefield in Game 7 after Boston manager Grady Little left a tiring Pedro Martinez in to blow a three run lead. One year later the Red Sox lost the first three games of the ALCS, then won four straight, starting with Dave Roberts’ ninth inning stolen base and David Ortiz’s walk off hits in Games 4 and 5, and Curt Schilling’s bloody sock start in Game 6. Boston swept the Cardinals days later to end an 86 year championship drought.

The 2026 Series

The Yankees, the No. 4 seed, host the No. 5 Red Sox in a best of three series with every game in the Bronx. Cam Schlittler, the AL ERA leader who shut out Boston in last year’s Game 3, starts Game 1 against rookie Payton Tolle. Max Fried and Gerrit Cole line up behind Schlittler; Sonny Gray and Ranger Suarez follow Tolle. Full details, times and live scores are on our Yankees vs. Red Sox series page.

Related

Yankees vs. Red Sox series · Game 1 live score · Wild Card starting pitchers · How to watch the Wild Card Series

Series results are from MLB.com’s postseason history.