The Boston Red Sox are fighting for the American League Wild Card, and it might come down to the wire. They’re currently tied with the Seattle Mariners for the second spot, and 2 1/2 ahead of the Cleveland Guardians for the final spot. The Texas Rangers are 4 1/2 back as well.
The regular season ends on September 28. The Red Sox and Mariners have 10 games to play, while the Guardians have 11 and the Houston Astros have nine. Every day, there are results outside of your control.
When the Red Sox walked off the Athletics on Tuesday, the Guardians likely let out a groan, but there was nothing they could do to prevent the Red Sox from winning. Red Sox manager Alex Cora has been through it before.
“September is to suffer,” Cora said. “You’ve still got teams around you. You win, and you look, and you suffer. In October, it’s head-to-head. You’ve got control over whatever happens in that series, but in September, everything is magnified.”
Everything is magnified in September. In July, most fans aren’t checking to see how the Guardians or the Rangers performed on a given day. In September, the results count the same, but they seem more meaningful.
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It doesn’t matter how the games are won, either. On Tuesday, a weak ground ball to second base scored the game-winning run. It took 10 innings, but the Red Sox don’t care how it looks as long as it ends up in the win column.
“Our plan is to play in the playoffs, you know? We’ll take all of the Ws we can, regardless of if they’re pretty or ugly. It really doesn’t matter,” Cora said.
