Inter Miami owes the New York Yankees a thank you heading into MLS playoffs. Here’s why

Inter Miami should send the New York Yankees a thank you note signed by all its coaches, players, and fans.

New York City FC, Miami’s first-round opponent in the MLS playoffs, normally plays its home games at Yankee Stadium, but will be unable to use that venue for the Oct. 17 game because the Yankees are hosting Games 1 and 2 of the American League Division Series on Tuesday and Thursday and scheduled to return to Yankee Stadium for Game 5 on October 17 if necessary.

Yankee Stadium requires more than 48 hours to convert between baseball and soccer and Citi Field was also unavailable because of the Mets’ playoff plans, so NYCFC had to move the Miami game across the river to Red Bull Arena, the Harrison, N.J., home of its archrival New York Red Bulls. Now that the Mets are eliminated, there is a chance NYCFC will try to move the game to Citi Field, but as of Monday it was still scheduled for Red Bull Arena.

Although the move is not too far geographically, it strips third-place New York of some of its home field advantage over sixth-place Miami. NYCFC has not fared well at Red Bull Arena this season.

New York was 7-2-1 at Yankee Stadium, with 26 goals scored and just eight goals allowed. The team posted an 0-1-2 record in games hosted at Red Bull Arena. Attendance averaged 16,432 in the Bronx and 8,323 in Harrison.

Because their home games are played on a baseball outfield, the field is narrow and cramped. Most opponents struggled to adapt. Inter Miami, which lost 2-0 to NYCFC at Yankee Stadium on July 23, will feel more comfortable on a full-sized field at Red Bull Arena.

Inter Miami and NYCFC have played twice this season and split the series, each team winning at home. Miami won 3-2 at home on Aug. 13. Alejandro Pozuelo scored two goals in that game and Ariel Lassiter scored one.

Miami ended the regular season in sixth place in the Eastern Conference after a 3-1 home loss to CF Montreal on Sunday, as goals scored was the tiebreaker for teams with equal points in the standings. Miami and Orlando City finished the regular season even on points with 48, but Miami scored 47 goals and Orlando City scored 44.

Both Miami and New York FC have been playing well in recent weeks. Miami won four games in a row before Sunday and NYCFC is on a three-game win streak, including a 2-1 road win against Atlanta on Sunday. Gonzalo Higuain has scored for Miami in 14 of the past 16 games. Gabriel Pereira has a goal or assist in four of the past five games.

“It’s unfortunate we lost in the manner that we did (Sunday), but when we have our backs against the wall that’s when we come alive, so for us, it’s just regroup and recover and continue to train like we did the past five or six weeks,” said Miami center back Aime Mabika. “It seems like we’ve been playing playoff games the past month and a half. If we had dropped any points in those games, we probably wouldn’t be in the playoffs. Now we have a real playoff game. If we lose our season is over.”

Inter Miami vs. NYCFC kicks off at 7 p.m. on Oct. 17 and will be broadcast on FS1 and Fox Deportes.

The winner of Miami vs NYCFC plays the winner of Orlando City vs. Montreal and if it is Orlando, Miami would host at DRV PNK Stadium.