For a while, the Astros supplanted the Red Sox as the Yankees’ main rival, owing mainly to the 2017 sign-stealing scandal and Houston winning all four playoff matchups from 2015-22.

What lingers in animus as the teams play at Yankee Stadium are four boos a night for Jose Altuve, the last Astro standing from all those tense games. The Red Sox are again the main rival as they follow into The Bronx for four games in three days that should have postseason intensity because of the proximity of the two teams in the AL East standings.

And it might be a playoff preview as well. And, if it is, well, Houston, we have a problem.

The Red Sox plan to use three lefty starters in Patrick Sandoval, Jake Bennett and Ranger Suarez, and probably a lefty opener such as Alec Gamboa or Erik Miller in one of the doubleheader games Saturday. If so, it would be just the second time since 1994 that the Yankees would have a four-game series in which the opposing four starters were all lefties — that also being against Boston (Eduardo Rodriguez, Chris Sale, Brian Johnson and David Price) that had a Saturday doubleheader from Aug. 2-4, 2019 … and the Yankees swept (thanks to Nate Purinton of MLB Network research).