Hour 1: Yankees - Red Sox

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This is The Michael Kay Show podcast.

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**Michael Kay** (0:44)
We thank you for joining us on this Friday. It is August 28th, 2026 Me and you for two. Those are the rules of engagement. It's the fastest moving two hours in sports talk radio. And the reason is I've got great co-hosts. You, the listener, the viewer, whatever the case may be, and the password to be a co-host, 1-800-919-3776.
We're going to talk about the Yankees and the Red Sox starting tonight. It's a four game series at Yankee Stadium. And with the Yankees losing last night, the Red Sox are just a skinny two games back of the Yankees for the first wild card. And by the Yankees losing last night, they're now four games back of Tampa Bay. And all of the three teams have 29 games left to play. Now, the Yankees do have the four games left with Tampa Bay in the last homestand of the season at Yankee Stadium. But you want to get closer than four because it's awfully hard to sweep a four game set, which is what we go into today thinking as well. Here's the deal. That was not a great loss yesterday. An offense that had scored more than seven or more runs in the last three games again fell silent.
Hayden Wesneski pitched very well. Nobody seems to be able to hit this year. Josh Hader, three up, three down in the ninth inning. And the Yankees lose. So now you look at tonight's game. All right, so it's tonight, a day night double headed tomorrow, and then Sunday afternoon. So you look at tonight's game, and you've got Ken Schlittler on the mound for the Yankees. And he'll be facing Patrick Sandoval, a left handed pitcher coming back from injury, but he has a one and two record with a four or five ERA. This is the game. I never play this game. I used to argue with Don about it. I never play this game. But this is as close to a must win as you could have. And I'm going to tell you why. You have a pitching advantage in Schlittler against Sandoval. Schlittler has always pitched well against the Red Sox. Take a look at the game three of the Wildcourt Series last year. He's pitched well against them this year with an under two ERA. And he has to do that again. Not only does he have to pitch well, but he has to give them distance. Now you could say, well, why does he have to give them distance, Michael? Well, I'm glad you asked. Tomorrow, you're going to get Rodin and likely, likely Max Fried. We'll know a little bit later on today. So if you get Rodin, he's essentially been a five-inning pitcher. You get Fried. Fried was extended to four innings in his last batting practice game that he pitched. So getting more than four innings out of him here is going to be difficult. So let's give him five just because we're wild and crazy, right? That means that tomorrow alone, the Yankees have to essentially cover an entire game out of the bullpen over the two games, which means that they can't use the same relievers in both games in all likelihood. So that puts a big burden. Now, if you have to end up getting 10-outs out of the bullpen tonight because Schlitler only lasted into the sixth, that creates a little bit of an issue. And then we have to look ahead to Sunday. Will Warren, in his last 14 starts, has essentially, albeit for one start, I think, been a five-inning pitcher. So that's another four-innings yet to get out of the bullpen. Now, let's talk about what they have to do. So I think they have to win tonight. Because remember, the last time they saw the Red Sox, it was the jump start of the Red Sox season. That's when the Red Sox swept them four games at Fenway Park. Their entire season changed the Red Sox after that. Entire season. Their season was done, cooked, finished, over. Fans were calling for John Henry to sell the team.