NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball's postseason will start with one of its classic rivalries: Red Sox vs. Yankees.
New York will host Boston in a best-of-three Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium starting Tuesday, with the winner advancing to an AL Division Series against Tampa Bay,
“I think it’s kind of been in the works here for probably the last month or so,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Friday. “Obviously a tremendous rivalry. The team’s had a resurgent season after a really difficult start. I think they’re really good. I felt that way all year. Also real confident if we play our game and pitch like we’re capable of we got a good chance to move on.”
Willson Contreras, who leads the Red Sox with with 27 homers and 81 RBIs, is uncertain for the series after he was hit on his right hand by a pitch on Sept. 17.
Boston clinched the second wild card by rallying from a three-run deficit to beat the Cubs in a doubleheader opener. The Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora and five coaches on April 25 after a 10-17 start and rebounded to reach the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2016-2018.
Promoted from Triple-A Worcester to an initial position of interim manager, Tracy was given a three-year contract on Tuesday.
Boston was 32-46 and last in the AL East through June 24. A four-game sweep of the Yankees at Fenway Park started a 32-5 stretch that included its first 15-game winning streak since 1946.
In last year’s series, Boston won the opener behind an 11-strikeout, 117-pitch performance from Garrett Crochet. The Yankees advanced with a 4-0 victory in Game 3 when Massachusetts native Cam Schlittler struck out 12 in eight innings.
New York won this year's regular season series 7-6. The Yankees beat Boston in the 1999 and 2003 AL Championship Series and last year's Wild Card Series, while Boston rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win the 2004 ALCS, then won the 2018 ALDS and 2021 wild card game.
“That’s what you want as a competitor,” Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony said of the matchup. “They’re a great team. We’re a great team.
“We always play good baseball against them. They play good baseball against us. It’s going to be a fun one. Great place to play. For us, where else would you rather be as a competitor?”
AP Sports Writer Kyle Hightower in Boston contributed to this report
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
Boston Red Sox's Willson Contreras drops his bat after being hit by a pitch thrown by Texas Rangers' Nathan Eovaldi in the sixth inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
New York Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is canceling nearly $1 billion in spending approved by Congress, the White House announced on Friday, using a rare and contested power to axe funding for immigrant services and diversity-focused initiatives.
Trump's Office of Management and Budget described the funding cut as focused on “the most harmful government spending.”
Most of the cuts are focused on Health and Human Services programs that serve refugees and unaccompanied minors accused of being in the country illegally. The administration says the funds are no longer necessary because illegal border crossings have diminished considerably.
Also targeted for cuts were a Department of Education program for migrant students, a Department of Justice office focused on reducing racial tensions, a business development initiative for minority entrepreneurs, housing counseling services from the Housing and Urban Development Department and a series of grants from the Health and Human Services Department that the administration called “outright harmful and blatantly ideological.”
A White House press release announcing the funding rescissions notes that some of the organizations are led by people who worked in the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama.
Trump’s move was condemned by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican in a tough reelection campaign and chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Collins said in a statement that the action came without warning or consultation. She also said she would work to address with colleagues “these illegal actions.”
“Not only is the delay itself an impoundment that was not reported to Congress, but also it is a usurpation of Congress’s appropriations powers,” Collins said. “OMB is an agency of the executive branch. It does not get to decide which programs are worth funding."
Under federal law, Congress has 45 days to review the president’s proposed spending cuts before they take effect. But Trump made that all but impossible by announcing them with just five days left in the federal fiscal year and the House out of session through the November election. The Government Accountability Office, which is an arm of Congress, says the maneuver known as a “pocket rescission” is illegal.
Collins called it the latest attempt by OMB to “undermine Congress’s Constitutional power of the purse.”
A year ago, Trump issued a pocket rescission for the first time in nearly 50 years by blocking $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to block those rescissions, saying that Trump’s authority over foreign affairs weighed heavily in its decision. This year, Trump is targeting domestic spending.
The use of a “pocket rescission” fits into a broader pattern by the Trump administration to exert greater control over the U.S. government, eroding Congress’s power.
What was essentially the last pocket rescission occurred in 1977 when then-Democratic President Jimmy Carter rescinded it, and the Trump administration argues it’s a legally permissible tool, despite some murkiness, since Carter had initially proposed the clawback well ahead of the 45-day deadline.
The administration has also fired federal workers, imposed a historic increase in tariffs, and started the war in Iran without going through Congress, putting the burden on the judicial branch to determine the limits of presidential power.
Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, the lead Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, described the White House action as “theft from the American people, plain and simple.”
“These are funds Congress has delivered on a bipartisan basis and should be helping people—not cut off by a president more focused on building a ballroom than investing in families,” Murray said.
Murray said that in recent spending negotiations, Democrats fought to include language to prevent the administration from usurping Congress’ power on spending decisions, but Republicans have declined to go along.
“While Trump spends tax dollars on ads promoting himself, Congress needs to reassert its powers to help people, and it’s past time Republicans join us in that fight,” she said.
In addition to immigrant services, the White House said it was rescinding $70 million for what it called “woke” international education programs, $28 million in grant funding for Health and Human Services research programs, and $9 million in debt relief for foreign countries that fund climate change policies. Another $10 million was being withheld from a minority business development program.
The U.S. Capitol is seen Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, responds to reporters about the confirmation hearing for Heidi Overton, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
FILE - The U.S. flag flies in font of the Capitol, on June 8, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)
President Donald Trump speaks during an arrival ceremony with China's President Xi Jinping in the Grand Foyer of the White House, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
