Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox will have another chance to clinch a playoff spot on Friday with a win over Detroit or an Astros loss.
The Red Sox will have to wait at least another day before they can potentially clinch a spot in the playoffs.
Boston entered Thursday with their magic number to secure a postseason bid down to one — meaning that all the Red Sox needed was a win over the Blue Jays or an Astros loss to the Athletics to punch their ticket to the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
But fortune didn’t fall on Boston’s side Thursday, as the Red Sox fell to the Blue Jays, 6-1, at Rogers Centre — while Houston kept their playoff hopes alive by beating Oakland, 11-5.
Even though Boston (87-72) is still in good position to play playoff baseball next week, Thursday stood as a step back for a Red Sox team trying to at least hold steady as the second Wild Card team in the American League.
With Boston losing and both the Tigers and Astros winning on Thursday, things got a bit tighter in the Wild Card standings. The Red Sox are just a game ahead of the third-place Tigers (86-73) in the Wild Card, while the Houston Astros are immediately two games back with an 85-74 record.
The Astros are currently on the outside looking in at the playoff picture, with Boston essentially holding a three-game cushion over Houston with three games to go due to the Red Sox holding the tie-breaker over them.
While Boston remains in control of its own destiny as far as securing the No. 2 spot in the Wild Card, a few doors did close for the Red Sox as result of Thursday’s slate of games.
With both the Blue Jays and Yankees winning on Thursday, the Red Sox can no longer win the AL East — nor can they overtake either of those teams for the best spot in the Wild Card standings.
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 goes, 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 immediately — open postseason play next with a three-game series at Yankee Stadium next week.
But, it remains to be seen who the Red Sox could play next week if they do clinch a playoff spot.
With the Yankees and Blue Jays immediately tied in the standings, Boston could return to Rogers Centre next week if New York takes first in the AL East and Toronto ends up falling into the Wild Card.
The only reason why Toronto (91-68) holds the edge in the standings over the Yankees (91-68) at this point is due to the Blue Jays holding the tie-breaker over New York.
The Red Sox’s magic number remains at one entering Friday’s games.
Boston will have another chance to earn a trip to October on Friday night, as the Red Sox will host the Tigers at Fenway Park. Southpaw Kyle Harrison will face off against Detroit righty Casey Mize in a game that will be carried on Apple TV+.
Even if Boston falls to Detroit on Friday, they can still advance to the playoffs if the Astros lose to the Angels in Anaheim. That matchup on the West Coast has a first pitch slated for 9:30 p.m.
Wednesday’s results for the best teams in the AL:
Blue Jays defeated Red Sox, 6-1
Tigers defeated Guardians , 4-2
Yankees defeated White Sox, 5-3
Astros defeated A’s, 11-5
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