Red Sox Clinch Wild Card Rematch With Yankees After Cubs Rally

The Boston Red Sox clinched the American League’s No. 5 seed and a Wild Card Series rematch with the New York Yankees by rallying past the Chicago Cubs 4-3 in Friday’s doubleheader opener at Fenway Park, the Associated Press and CBS Boston reported.

Connor Wong’s tiebreaking double in the seventh inning drove in Roman Anthony and finished a comeback from an early three-run deficit. The win locked Boston into the second AL wild-card berth with two regular-season games remaining and set a best-of-three series beginning Tuesday at Yankee Stadium — the seventh Red Sox–Yankees postseason series and a rematch of last year’s Yankees 2-1 Wild Card win, both outlets said.

Anthony finished with two doubles, a triple and three runs scored, according to the AP account. Chicago led 3-1 after early doubles from Tyrone Taylor and Miguel Amaya, helped by wind that knocked down balls toward the Green Monster. Boston tied it in the fifth when Adley Rutschman’s slow-rolling single through the middle scored Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Anthony.

Aaron Civale (6-8) surrendered Anthony’s triple and Wong’s double in a three-pitch span in the seventh. Greg Weissert (4-2) and Raymond Burgos closed out a bullpen stretch that allowed no hits after the sixth; Burgos earned his second save with two innings. Starter Alec Gamboa had lasted only two innings and allowed three runs for Boston, the AP reported.

Catcher Mickey Gasper started but left in the sixth with right biceps discomfort and was replaced by Wong. Chicago’s Alex Bregman went 0-for-4 as designated hitter in his first game since sustaining multiple face fractures from a foul ball in Cincinnati last Sunday. The Cubs entered Friday in the second NL wild-card spot.

Weekend weather forced schedule gymnastics that also matter for playoff logistics. Friday’s opener had been a Sunday game moved up because of a forecast storm; the series finale originally set for Saturday night was shifted to Sunday afternoon in St. Petersburg, Florida, after Major League Baseball relocated the Red Sox–Cubs closer away from Fenway, both reports noted.

For readers tracking October baseball on Sports, the clinch ends months of seeding speculation that had already pointed toward another Bronx series. Boston improved to a position that removes the risk of slipping to the No. 6 seed, while New York holds home-field advantage as the No. 4 seed. The best-of-three format means one early loss can flip a rivalry that already carries last October’s scars.

Roman Anthony’s multi-extra-base night is the offensive headline Boston will want to carry into Yankee Stadium. A career first with three extra-base hits in one game, paired with Wong’s clutch double and a scoreless late bullpen, gives the Red Sox a cleaner narrative than their recent low-scoring stretch. The AP noted Boston’s four runs matched its total from the previous four games combined.

The Cubs, still fighting for their own October path, drop a high-leverage road game that also showcased Boston’s depth when a starting catcher exits mid-contest. Civale’s brief seventh-inning sequence — triple, double — will be replayed as the decisive sequence; Boston’s ability to manufacture the go-ahead run without a home run fits a park and wind pattern that turned potential long balls into doubles all afternoon.

Rivalry postseason games already sell themselves, but the seeding math adds a calendar certainty: tickets, travel and bullpen planning can now lock to Tuesday’s first pitch in the Bronx. Last year’s Yankees survival in three games remains the immediate measuring stick. Boston’s Friday win does not erase that result; it only guarantees another chance to rewrite it in the same round.

Earlier this week Cleveland’s Guardians clinched their own AL berth against Boston in a 1-0 Fenway thriller covered in our Guardians clinch report. Friday’s Wild Card lock flips the narrative from Boston as the team being clinched against to Boston as a locked October participant with a defined first-round opponent.

Verified facts as of Friday’s reports: Red Sox 4, Cubs 3 in Game 1 of the Fenway doubleheader; Wong’s seventh-inning double the go-ahead hit; Anthony with two doubles and a triple; AL No. 5 seed secured; Wild Card Series vs. Yankees starting Tuesday at Yankee Stadium; weekend finale relocated to Tropicana Field for weather. How Boston’s bullpen and Anthony’s bat travel to the Bronx will decide whether this clinch becomes a launching pad or another short October.