The Boston Red Sox have officially clinched a spot in the MLB playoffs, and did so in dramatic fashion Friday night. The Red Sox walked off against the Detroit Tigers to lock up one of the last two Wild Card spots in the American League.
It’s Boston’s first postseason berth since 2021.
The Red Sox punched their ticket Friday night with a dramatic 4-3 walk-off win over the Tigers at Fenway Park, which led to a big celebration in front of Red Sox Nation — followed by champagne bottles popping in the locker room.
The Red Sox went into the game needing a win or a Houston loss to the Angels to clinch, and took care of business in front of their home fans. They fell behind 3-0 in the leading of the fourth, but Jarren Duran tied it up in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single to score Nate Eaton, which set up the team’s dramatic walk-off the next inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, Ceddanne Rafaela launched a game-winning triple off the wall in center field to score Romy Gonzalez and send the Red Sox to the postseason.
Friday night was Boston’s MLB-leading 12th walk-off win of the season.
Red Sox clinch Wild Card spot
At 88-72 on the season, Boston currently sits as the No. 2 Wild Card team in the American League. The Red Sox could potentially fall to the No. 3 spot if they lose their final two games over the weekend, as Detroit holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over them at the moment.
Boston’s foe in the Wild Card round remains TBD, but if the playoffs started today the Red Sox would square off against the New York Yankees. The Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland Guardians, or Tigers are also potential opponents. Whomever they play, the Red Sox will be on the road for the best-of-three Wild Card series.
Boston went 9-4 against the Yankees in the regular season and 5-2 against them at Yankee Stadium. The Red Sox went just 5-8 against the Blue Jays, but the two teams split their six games in Toronto. The Red Sox took two of three against the Jays at the Rogers Centre in their final road series of the regular season.
The Red Sox went 4-2 against the Guardians, and took two of three in Cleveland back in in late April. The Tigers swept a three-game series with the Red Sox in Detroit in early May, with two games left between the two teams at Fenway Park this weekend.
Game 1 of the Wild Card round is set for Tuesday, September 30. The Red Sox will send ace Garrett Crochet to the mound in Game 1.
Red Sox in the MLB playoffs
Boston’s postseason berth ends a four-year playoff drought for the franchise. The Red Sox last made the playoffs in 2021, when Alex Cora’s club made a run to the American League Championship Series, where they lost to the Houston Astros in six games. The Red Sox beat the Yankees in the AL Wild Card game at Fenway Park and then the Tampa Bay Rays in four games in the American League Divisional Series that October.
Cora is 17-8 in the postseason as a manager, after guiding the team to a World Series victory in his first season on the bench in 2018. Nobody remains on the Boston roster from that last title team, and reliever Garrett Whitlock is the only remaining member of the 2021 Red Sox.
But several members of the current Red Sox have postseason experience elsewhere. All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman has 44 games of playoff experience and a pair of World Series rings, which he won with the Chicago Cubs in 2016 and the Texas Rangers in 2023. Chapman has a 2.37 ERA and 10 saves in his postseason career.
Nathaniel Lowe also won a World Series ring with the Rangers in 2023. Third baseman Alex Bregman has the most postseason experience of the bunch thanks to his 99 playoff games — and two World Series rings — with the Houston Astros. Bregman has slashed .238/.346/.443 in the MLB playoffs with 19 homers, 54 RBI, and 63 runs scored.
Trevor Story (five games with the Rockies), Rob Refsnyder (one game with the Yankees in 2015), Lucas Giolito (2020 and 2021 with the White Sox) and Steven Matz (three starts for the New York Mets in 2015) will also bring postseason experience into this year’s playoffs.
Crochet is in line to start the first game of the playoffs, which would be the first start of his postseason career. He made four playoff appearances for the White Sox out of the bullpen in the 2020 and 2021 postseasons, toss three innings of shutout ball with six strikeouts and five hits allowed.
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