NEW YORK — Willson Contreras is in the lineup and starting at first base as the Red Sox begin their postseason journey Tuesday night in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series.
Contreras missed most of the last two weeks of the season after getting hit by a pitch on his right hand. He was able to avoid a fracture but dealt with inflammation and a bruise, which made it difficult for the slugger to swing a bat pain free. As recently as this past Thursday Contreras was expressing doubt over whether or not he’d be able to play against the Yankees, but the All-Star turned the corner and played in Boston’s regular-season finale as the designated hitter on Sunday.
Contreras is batting third for Boston in Game 1, following Roman Anthony, who is batting leadoff and serving as the DH in his postseason debut, and Adley Rutschman, who is catching and batting second.
Wilyer Abreu and Ceddanne Rafaela are batting fourth and fifth, Nick Sogard is getting the start at second base and batting sixth, Jarren Duran will play left field and bat seventh with the right-handed Cam Schlittler on the mound, Trevor Story is batting eighth and Caleb Durbin is ninth.
The Yankees will have Paul Goldschmidt, Ben Rice, Heliot Ramos and Cody Bellinger as their top four hitters, and Anthony Volpe will get the start at second base over Jazz Chisholm Jr. to face the lefty Tolle.
Red Sox lineup
Roman Anthony DH
Adley Rutschman C
Willson Contreras 1B
Wilyer Abreu RF
Ceddanne Rafaela CF
Nick Sogard 2B
Jarren Duran LF
Trevor Story SS
Caleb Durbin 3B
Payton Tolle P
Yankees lineup
Paul Goldschmidt 1B
Ben Rice DH
Heliot Ramos RF
Cody Bellinger LF
George Lombard Jr. SS
Amed Rosario 3B
Anthony Volpe 2B
Spencer Jones CF
Austin Wells C
Cam Schlittler RHP
Broadcast info
When: 8 p.m.
Where: Yankee Stadium, New York City
Broadcast info: NBC, Peacock, WEEI 93.7 FM, ESPN Radio, WCCM 1490 AM (Spanish), WESX 1230 AM (Spanish)