Beginning in the third inning Wednesday night, Red Sox manager Alex Cora tried everything he could to ensure his team’s wild card series against the Yankees didn’t go to a decisive third game.

Fortunately for a sport that needs all the can’t-miss moments it can get, Cora’s efforts were for naught.

A wild card round that has gone about as well as Major League Baseball could hope will get the grand finale tonight, when the Yankees host the Red Sox in the last of the three Game 3s at 8:08 PM EST.

That’s one more Game 3 than was played in the wild card round the previous three seasons combined. Such quick series to start the playoffs were bad news for a league hoping to lure back the casual viewer by turning its postseason tournament into an unpredictable free-for-all.

MLB already had two

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