As recently as Sept. 2 the Red Sox playoff odds stood as high as 98.2%. At that point the club was six games above the playoff cutline and had just polished off an 11-7 win at Fenway Park over the Cleveland Guardians, who were a game below .500 and by all accounts were out of the hunt.
How quickly things can change.
Since that night the Red Sox have gone 5-8 in their last 13 games while the Guardians have ripped off an incredible 13-2 run, vaulting themselves right back into the conversation.
In the process the Guardians have leapfrogged three of their American League rivals, and now the club trails the Red Sox by just 1.5 games for the final American League playoff spot.
This week the Red Sox saw their margin shrink ever so steadily after losing what on paper appeared to be a lay-up of a home series against the Athletics. Meanwhile, the Guardians pulled off a huge sweep of the first-place Detroit Tigers, whose seemingly insurmountable lead in the AL Central is now also in jeopardy.
The Guardians and Tigers still play three more times before the end of the season, and as of now the Tigers’ lead for the division is only 3.5.
Cleveland next plays a four-game series on the road against the nosediving Minnesota Twins. The Red Sox fly to Florida this weekend for three games against the Tampa Bay Rays.
For the Red Sox, this week marked a missed opportunity but not a catastrophic setback. Veteran shortstop Trevor Story said following the club’s 5-3 loss that the team hasn’t been playing its best brand of baseball, but that they’re still confident in their ability to right the ship and finish the season strong.
“We have the mindset that we’re going to be playing for a month after this, so we’re not trying to limp in, that’s a trap in itself,” Story said. “We’re going to keep looking ahead and try to chase down that division.”
Manager Alex Cora noted that he went through this before in 2021, when the Red Sox scratched and clawed their way into the playoffs and at one point fell below the playoff cutline entering the final weekend. The Red Sox wound up sweeping the Washington Nationals and clinching a playoff berth on the last day of the season.
Tight as the standings have gotten, Cora noted that in the grand scheme of things, nothing has changed.
“We control our own destiny, so go to Tampa and win the series,” Cora said. “That’s the way I see it.”
