Wild Card series between Yankees and Red Sox resulting in best case scenario for the Blue Jays

As the Toronto Blue Jays patiently await the start of their American League Division Series this Saturday, the Yankees and Red Sox are battling it out in the Bronx for the right to head to Toronto. While the Jays are no doubt prepared for whoever they face in the ALDS, the way the Wild Card Series is shaping out so far could give them a huge advantage.

Wild Card series between Yankees and Red Sox resulting in best case scenario for the Blue Jays

Game one saw Boston ace, Garrett Crochet, dominate Yankees hitters, allowing just one run on four hits across seven and two-thirds innings, before Aroldis Chapman shut the door with a four-out save. The Yankees' pitching staff didn't quite have the same experience.

After starter Max Fried tossed six and a third clean innings, it took five relievers to record the final eight outs, allowing three runs while doing so. The New York bullpen, which struggled in the regular season, allowing a 4.37 ERA, the worst among all playoff teams, was forced to use over half of its eight relievers on their Wild Card roster, heading into a must-win game two.

Last night, the Red Sox didn't get anything close to the performance they'd gotten the game before, as starter Brayan Bello lasted just two and a third innings while allowing two runs on 28 pitches.

The final six and two-thirds innings of the game saw Boston use six relievers, including a 47-pitch outing from setup man Garrett Whitlock. While the Yankees won game two, it wasn't an ideal night for their pitching staff either, as they used relievers Fernando Cruz, Devin Williams, and David Bednar all for the second night in a row.

Through the first two games, Boston's bullpen has needed to eat eight innings, while throwing nearly 150 pitches. To make things worse, their game three starter, Connelly Early, has just four Major League appearances and less than 50 career innings pitched above Double-A. Early is only getting the start because Lucas Giolito, who had posted a 2.51 ERA across his final 111.1 innings this season, is likely out for the entire postseason with an elbow injury.

If they can manage to win game three, they'll be heading to Toronto with an overworked bullpen and without one of their best starters.

For New York, the situation isn't quite as dire, but it has the potential to get messy. Their game three starter, Cam Schlittler, is also a rookie. While his 2.96 ERA across 14 starts and 73 innings this season was certainly impressive, he has no postseason experience and has only pitched beyond the sixth innings three times in the Majors.

Add to that the fact that three of their high-leverage relievers in Cruz, Williams, and Bednar have already been used in games one and two, a win tonight could come at the cost of exhausting an already taxed bullpen.

While the Jays have been getting prepped all week for the start of ALDS on Saturday, the Yankees and Red Sox have been doing them a massive favor by throwing everything they have at each other, ensuring whichever team wins will not be heading to Toronto with a full tank. As the AL East rivals face off tonight for the decisive game three, all Blue Jays fans can do is sit back, relax, and hope for a grueling game for both sides.