Yankees set starters for Red Sox series: Schlittler gets Game 1, Fried Game 2

The New York Yankees have set their starters for the Wild Card series against the Boston Red Sox, which begins Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. The series continues Wednesday and, if necessary, Thursday; in the event of qualification for the ALDS, the first games would be played on the road the following Saturday and Monday.

According to Bleacher Report, Cam Schlittler will start the first game of the series, Max Fried returns as the starter for the second game, while Gerrit Cole is projected for the third game, if required.

Schlittler threw the final three innings on September 24 against the Tampa Bay Rays and closed the season with a 1.95 ERA — the lowest for a Yankees starter since 1978. Fried, the left-hander, went 6.2 innings on September 22 against the same Rays and finished the season with a 2.80 ERA. Pitching coach Matt Blake said Fried was “obviously under serious consideration” to start the first game, partly to give Schlittler more rest, according to reports.

After losing Game 1 of the ALDS to the Red Sox last season, when Fried started and the team later turned to the series with starts from Carlos Rodón and Schlittler, the organization now hopes to avoid the need for such a comeback. As Bleacher Report reports, the expectation is that the starter assignments will provide the right stability to open the single-elimination phase.