Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox could be challenged in the Wild Card standings by the Tigers and Astros.
The Red Sox opened a critical road series against the Blue Jays on Tuesday with a 4-1 win over Toronto — giving Alex Cora’s club some much-needed breathing room in a tightening American League Wild Card race.
As a result of Tuesday’s win — and a myriad of other results across MLB — the Red Sox (86-71) are holding steady in second place in the AL Wild Card standings, three games back of the Wild-Card leading Yankees (89-68).
With the AL East and potentially the top Wild Card seed out of reach for Boston with just five games remaining in the regular season, the top priority for the Red Sox is to simply punch their ticket to the postseason for the first time since 2021.
Tuesday was a positive step forward in that endeavor, especially with the Houston Astros losing to the A’s later that night.
Houston — who currently sits just below the postseason cutoff line — is currently two games behind Boston in the standings with a record of 84-73. But with the Red Sox also owning a tiebreaker over Houston, Boston essentially has a three-game edge over Houston when it comes to playoff positioning.
With just five games left, those odds favor the Red Sox, even if they hit another rough patch down the stretch and end up tied with the Astros on the final day of regular-season action.
Boston’s final regular-season series against the Tigers from Friday-Sunday will also hold plenty of weight for several teams.
As a result of Cleveland defeating Detroit on Tuesday night, the Guardians have leapfrogged the Tigers and sit in first place in the AL Central — while Detroit is now sitting in the third Wild Card spot behind Boston with an 85-72 record.
Cleveland and Detroit technically have the same record, but a red-hot Guardians team holds the division crown for now as a result of owning the tiebreaker over the Tigers.
The Red Sox currently have a one-game lead over Detroit for second place in the Wild Card, although a tiebreaker will not be determined between both teams until this weekend’s series at Fenway Park.
The Red Sox are currently 0-3 against Detroit so far this season.
Here’s a look at the latest standings across MLB:
If MLB’s regular season ended today, this would be the matchups in the American League:
Byes
No. 1 Toronto, No. 2 Seattle
Wild Card Round
Best of 3
No. 3 Cleveland vs. No. 6 Detroit
No. 4 Yankees vs. No. 5 Boston
As far as the playoff format, six teams will make the postseason in both the American and National League.
The two division winners with the best records in each league will earn a bye in the Wild Card round, while the third division winner holds onto the No. 3 seed and plays the third wild-card team. The first and second wild-card teams will be the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds, respectively, and play each other.
The higher seed will host all three games in the Wild Card round, which means that Boston would — as of now — be trying to keep their season alive with a three-game series at Yankee Stadium next week.
But a lot can change between now and Sunday, beyond just Boston’s playoff hopes. Given how compacted several playoff races are, the Red Sox may not know their potential postseason opponent until Sunday once the dust has completely settled.
If the Red Sox take care of business against the Blue Jays over the next two days, it’d be good news for the Yankees — who currently sit just one game back of Toronto for first place in the AL East after Tuesday’s walk-off win over the White Sox.
If New York was to leapfrog Toronto over these final few games, it’d be Boston likely taking on Toronto in the Wild Card round, with New York getting granted a bye.
The Red Sox will look to increase their playoff odds on Wednesday with Garrett Crochet on the mound against Toronto. First pitch is set for 7:07 p.m.
Here’s a look at Tuesday’s results for the top teams in the AL:
Red Sox defeated Blue Jays, 4-1
Guardians defeated Tigers, 5-2
Yankees defeated White Sox, 3-2
Mariners defeated Rockies, 4-3
Athletics defeated Astros, 5-1
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