Who Will Red Sox Play In Playoffs? It’s Down To These 3 Teams

The Red Sox on Friday clinched their first postseason berth since 2021. Playoff baseball officially is back in Boston, thanks to a walk-off win over the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park.

So, what’s next?

Well, that will be decided over the weekend. All we knew entering Saturday was that the Red Sox would be on the road for their best-of-three wild-card series, which begins Tuesday, and that they no longer could win the American League East or the top wild-card spot. A division crown would’ve resulted in a first-round bye, whereas the No. 1 wild-card seed would’ve resulted in home-field advantage — but both are off the table.

Before we examine Boston’s potential first-round opponents, let’s look at where the American League standings stood as of Saturday morning:

(Note: Division winners with the two-best records get first-round byes. The No. 3 seed hosts the No. 6 seed; the No. 4 seed hosts the No. 5 seed.)

Division Leaders
1. Toronto Blue Jays (92-68, clinched playoff spot)
2. Seattle Mariners (90-70, clinched playoff spot)
3. Cleveland Guardians (86-74, not in playoffs)
Wild Card
4. New York Yankees (92-68, clinched playoff spot)
5. Boston Red Sox (88-72, clinched playoff spot)
6. Detroit Tigers (86-74, not in playoffs)
Still In Contention
7. Houston Astros (85-75, one game back of Detroit)

The Red Sox will play the Yankees, Blue Jays or Guardians in the wild-card round. Their opponent will host each game of the series, meaning Fenway Park won’t host a playoff game in October unless the Red Sox advance to the divisional round.

Boston will play the Tigers on Saturday and Sunday. If the Red Sox win one of those games, they’d be locked into the second wild-card seed, meaning they’d visit either the Blue Jays or Yankees — whichever finishes with the top wild-card seed — in the first round.

However, if Boston loses its final two games, it could fall to the final wild-card seed, in which case it would visit the Guardians.

Cleveland holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Detroit. So, if the Guardians and Tigers both win out, Cleveland still would win the American League Central and host the Red Sox in the first round. If the Tigers win out but the Guardians lose either of their final two games, Boston would keep the second wild-card seed and visit Toronto or New York.

Thus, there is no way for the Red Sox to land the Tigers as their first-round opponent.

Whether Alex Cora and the Red Sox will manage the final two games with seeding/opponent in mind is anyone’s guess. They could prioritize rest and getting their house in order, or they could go all-out for the second wild-card seed if they feel especially confident about matchups with Toronto and New York over Cleveland. We’ll just have to wait and see.

The Tigers and Guardians certainly won’t take their feet off the gas, as both still could be leapfrogged by the Houston Astros for the final wild-card seed and miss the playoffs entirely. So, while the Red Sox and their fans can breathe easy (for now), there still we be plenty of scoreboard-watching across the American League this weekend.

One way or another, Boston will play a playoff game on Tuesday — and that’s all that matters.