<P> Towards the end of the 2016 season in September, the Yankees headed to Fenway Park trailing the first place Red Sox by only four games . The Yankees "came to town with serious playoff aspirations but left Fenway Park beaten and broken ." The Yankees ended up getting swept and blew late - inning leads in three of the four games, including giving up five runs in the ninth inning of the first game that ended with a Hanley Ramírez walk - off home run . The sweep, which all but ruined the playoff aspirations of a Yankee team that came into the series with considerable momentum, has been dubbed "Boston Massacre II" in reference to the 1978 four game sweep of the Red Sox by the Yankees at Fenway . The Red Sox clinched the AL East title on September 28 when the Toronto Blue Jays lost to the Baltimore Orioles that night only to lose their game to the Yankees minutes later when Mark Teixeira hit a walk - off grand slam . </P> <P> On August 12, 2017, the Red Sox collected their 1,000 th win against the Yankees . On September 6, 2017, The New York Times reported that the Red Sox had been using an Apple Watch to relay Yankee hand signs to Red Sox batters as they played . The use of electronic devices to communicate such information is in violation of baseball rules . </P> <P> The Red Sox won the division by two games, forcing the Yankees into the Wild Card . This marked the first time both the Red Sox and Yankees made the playoffs since 2009 . However, both teams lost in the postseason to the eventual World Series champion Houston Astros; the Red Sox in the ALDS in 4 games and the Yankees in the ALCS in 7 games . </P> <P> The 2018 season will mark the first time since 1992 that both the Yankees and the Red Sox will be having new managers to start the season . Both teams parted ways with their managers after they were eliminated from the postseason; Yankees fired Joe Girardi and the Red Sox fired John Farrell . The Red Sox hired Alex Cora while the Yankees hired 2003 ALCS hero Aaron Boone to manage the team until 2021 . </P>

Who did the red sox lose to in the playoffs last year
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