New York @ Boston preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 5, 2018 ) NY Yankees 4, Boston 5

All the pressure is on David Price as the Boston Red Sox attempt to take a 2-0 lead over the visiting New York Yankees on Saturday in the best-of-five American League Division Series. The left-hander has a dreadful 0-8 record in nine career postseason starts and was a porous 0-3 with a 10.34 ERA in four starts against the Yankees this season.

The 33-year-old Price insists Saturday is just another game and he isn't fixated on finally notching a postseason win as a starter. "If I lose the entire playoffs and we win a World Series, I'll take that," Price said during his press conference. "That's what I'm here for. I don't want this to be about me and me not winning. I want to go out there (Saturday) and throw the ball well, and help the Red Sox win." J.D. Martinez hit a three-run homer - his fourth career postseason blast - in the first inning of Boston's 5-4 win in Game 1 while Aaron Judge went deep as New York fought back from a five-run deficit. "I think as much as it's tough any time you lose a game in the postseason, I think we can take away from this game that we kind of hung around, we battled," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said afterward. "I like the way we continued to compete and give ourselves a chance."

TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, TBS

PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Masahiro Tanaka (12-6, 3.75 ERA) vs. Red Sox LH David Price (16-7, 3.58)

Tanaka allowed eight earned runs over eight innings in his last two starts after giving up just one across 21 innings during a three-start winning streak, and the sequence speaks to his inconsistent nature. "I think it's aggressiveness," the 29-year-old from Japan said through a translator during his press conference. "I think when I'm on my game, when I'm doing well out there, I think I feel like I'm being able to really focus on the matchup and being aggressive." Tanaka was 1-0 with a 7.58 ERA in four starts against Boston this season and stands 8-4 with a 4.35 ERA in 18 career outings versus the Red Sox.

Price has picked up two postseason victories as a reliever and owns a 5.03 ERA in 17 overall appearances. He put forth a stellar effort in last year's ALDS when he blanked the Houston Astros on five hits over 6 2/3 innings without getting a decision in two outings. Price is 15-14 with a 4.90 ERA in 42 career appearances (41 starts) against the Yankees and has been routinely torched by Gary Sanchez, who is 6-for-13 with five homers and 11 RBIs against him.

WALK-OFFS

1. Yankees CF Aaron Hicks (hamstring) departed in the fourth inning and is slated to undergo an MRI exam on Saturday, according to Boone.

2. Boston LF Andrew Benintendi went 2-for-4 with two runs scored in Game 1.

3. New York DH Giancarlo Stanton struck out four times while going 1-for-5 in the opener.

PREDICTION: Yankees 7, Red Sox 5