NEW YORK -- Adding fuel to baseball's bitterest rivalry, New York Yankees catcher Russell Martin said he hates the Boston Red Sox and would relish adding to their misery by helping to eliminate them from the playoffs during this weekend's series between the two teams.

"Anything to get the Red Sox out would be awesome for me," said Martin, who has been involved in the rivalry for one season.

When asked why, Martin sounded like the truest Bleacher Creature.

"Because I hate the Red Sox," Martin said.

The Yankees entered Thursday night, having already clinched the American League East. Their magic number to gain home-field advantage over the Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers was three. It would only be for the American League portion of the playoffs. The National League owns home field in the World Series because of the NL's victory in the All-Star Game.

Last winter, Martin almost went to Boston. The three teams most interested in signing him as a free agent were the Yankees, the Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays. The Yankees outbid the other clubs and gave Martin the best chance to start. Martin, 28, got $4 million plus performance bonuses.

Now, he has added a little spice to this weekend, which from the Yankees' side, had lost some of its luster because the AL East race ended Wednesday.

"They are fun to play against because they have a quality team and they are gritty and they play hard and stuff, but I would love to see them lose," Martin said.

When informed of Martin's comments, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he doesn't hate the Red Sox and would prefer not to add intensity to the rivalry.

"I don't ever like to fuel anything," Girardi said. "Boys will be boys."

In his first series against the Red Sox back in April, Martin hit two homers in one game at Fenway in the Yankees' 9-4 win in the second game of the season between the two clubs.