The Boston Red Sox were starting to live a bit dangerously.
Not only was the team 3-6 since Roman Anthony’s injury heading into play on Sunday night, but every other American League contender had caught fire. After leading the first team out of the playoff picture by as many as six games earlier this month, Boston entered Sunday with just a two-game cushion over the Texas Rangers.
However, after not cutting into their magic number since Tuesday’s win over the Athletics, the Red Sox not only picked up a crucial win on Sunday, but got some help from an unlikely source.
Boston beat the New York Yankees 6-4 in the Sunday night series finale, thanks to a six-run first inning and a season-high 12 strikeouts from ace Garrett Crochet. The Red Sox immediately sit at 82-68, clinching their first winning season since 2021.
But how about clinching that elusive first playoff berth since 2021? Thanks to the New York Mets beating the Texas Rangers, the magic number for Boston has dropped to 10, so a combination of Red Sox wins and Rangers losses that reaches double digits would send the Sox back to October.
Texas (79-71) was riding a six-game winning streak heading into Sunday’s series finale with the reeling Mets, who had lost eight in a row and were only a half-game up on the San Francisco Giants for the final National League Wild Card spot.
Thankfully, Pete Alonso came to the rescue not only for the stressed-out fans in Queens, but those in greater New England as well, lashing a three-run walk-off home run to right field in the bottom of the 10th inning.
Meanwhile, the Cleveland Guardians have also quietly crept into the picture, winning nine of 10 and only trailing the Rangers by half a game at 78-71. Because the Red Sox own the tiebreaker over the Guardians and not the Rangers, their magic number to beat out Cleveland is nine.
It would behoove the Red Sox to take care of business this week against the Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays, as next up, it’s a showdown with the division-leading Toronto Blue Jays and Detroit Tigers.
More MLB: Red Sox’s Strength Of Schedule Is new Warning Sign For Shrinking Playoff Hopes
About the Author
