Fox: The Red Sox saved their season; now it's time to make their push
There is no excuse for the Red Sox not to catch the Royals
The Red Sox season was on the edge on Monday night. After yet another bullpen meltdown and a walk-off loss to the Houston Astros, the Red Sox found themselves 4.5 games back of the Kansas City Royals for the third Wild Card with just 37 games left to play. With two more games in Houston (while the Royals were playing the decimated Los Angeles Angels), the Red Sox could have seen that deficit spiral to an insurmountable total.
Yet, as they have all season long, the Red Sox responded. Jarren Duran refused to get out. Triston Casas continued to smash the ball. Cedanne Rafaela provided electricity at the plate and in the field. And most surprisingly, the much-maligned bullpen completely turned the page, allowing just one run in eight innings over the last two games. Yes, the Red Sox conquered their rivals by winning their first series against them since 2022 and picking up a game against the Royals in the process.
From a larger perspective, this 4-3 stretch against the Baltimore Orioles and the Astros was a microcosm of the entire series. There were moments where it felt like the whole thing was going to fall apart, mostly due to shotty pitching and poor defense. But thanks to an explosive, league-leading offense, the Red Sox hit just enough to squeak out a winning road trip. The Red Sox are not blowing teams out of the water as much as they are treading in place, but considering the quality of their opponents, that is more than acceptable.
With that said, however, time is quickly becoming a factor. The Red Sox are going to need to start making their push, and fortunately, the schedule is set up perfectly for them to do just that. Following a three-game series at Fenway against a Ketel-Martleless Arizona Diamondbacks team, the Red Sox are gifted a five-game set against the last-place Toronto Blue Jays, a three-game encounter against the 62-65 Detroit Tigers, and a three-game gift against the historically inept Chicago White Sox the following weekend.
At the same time, it is not enough at this point for the Red Sox to win games. The 3.5-game hole requires the Royals to lose as well, and that has been a frustratingly fruitless endeavor over the last month. While the Red Sox have played the likes of the Dodgers, Yankees, Orioles, Mariners, and Astros twice since the All-Star break, the only winning teams the Royals have played are the Diamondbacks, Red Sox, and Twins, and they have lost each of those series. Against losing teams, however, the Royals have gone 16-5, including 6-0 against the aforementioned 31-95 White Sox.
Look, I don’t want to be a hater. I am a fan of small-market success stories and an even bigger fan of Bobby Witt Jr. Yet when I look at their lineup, I am constantly baffled that they have a better record than the Red Sox. Other than Witt Jr., the Royals do not have a single player with an OPS over .800. The Red Sox have seven.
The Royals top four most-used relievers all have an ERA well above 4, and no one in their bullpen can match the experience, pedigree, and reliability of Kenley Jansen and Chris Martin. And while their starting pitching is among the best in the league, the Red Sox and many of the other league’s best offenses have pummeled command-and-control guys Seth Lugo and Brady Singer.
It is not sour grapes to suggest that the Royals have benefited from an easy schedule; it’s just a fact. The Astros are the only American League team to play fewer games than the Royals against winning teams, and the Royals have benefited further from a 22-game slate against the Tigers and White Sox in which they have gone 19-3. Credit to them for beating the teams they should beat, but the schedule is about to get a whole lot harder.
An incredible 17 of their next 20 games come against first-place teams, with the only exception being a Twins team with the same record that just beat them in a three-game series. Very few teams could expect to succeed against a gauntlet like this, and it looks especially tough for a Royals team that has dropped eight of their last nine series against teams with winning records.
So here’s where the Red Sox are. Their roster is the healthiest it has been all season, and they could add Justin Slaten, Liam Hendriks, and even Trevor Story in the coming weeks. Their upcoming schedule finally turns favorable after a brutal month. And their foremost playoff-race rival is entering a 20-game stretch against baseball’s best teams. Even with a 3.5-game deficit, everything is set up for the Red Sox right now. It is time to make their push.
