Boston on brink of postseason berth

The Pink Sox are on the cusp of taking part in October baseball for the primary time since 2021.

Boston secured one other win over the Blue Jays on Wednesday, with eight shutout innings for Garrett Crochet pacing Boston en path to a 7-1 victory at Rogers Centre.

On account of Boston’s win — the fourth within the group’s final 5 video games — the Pink Sox may clinch a playoff berth as quickly as Thursday afternoon, relying on how each Alex Cora’s group and the Houston Astros fare of their respective collection.

Boston’s magic quantity to clinch a postseason berth is now only one — with both a Pink Sox win towards Toronto or an Astros loss to the A’s on Thursday securing a playoff spot for Boston.

Boston lowered its magic quantity to 2 with Wednesday’s win in Toronto, whereas Houston’s loss to the Athletics later that night time bringing that magic quantity down to 1. 

The Pink Sox may conceivably punch their ticket to the playoffs earlier than they even play on Thursday night time, provided that Houston will play at 3:35 p.m. (EST) within the closing recreation of its collection with the A’s.

With the Pink Sox defeating Toronto on Wednesday, Boston (87-71) continues to carry regular in second place within the American League Wild Card standings — two video games forward of the third-place Tigers (85-73) and now three video games forward of the Astros (84-74), who at the moment are on the surface wanting in on the playoff image. 

All issues thought-about, the Pink Sox have a four-game cushion over the Astros with simply 4 video games left within the season, contemplating that Boston holds the tiebreaker over Houston. 

Whereas the Pink Sox are holding courtroom with that second Wild Card spot, Toronto’s latest shedding skid has them vulnerable to shedding their spot atop the AL East. The Blue Jays at the moment are tied with the Yankees with a document of 90-68 — with Toronto solely forward of New York within the standings by holding the tiebreaker in that head-to-head matchup.

Right here’s a take a look at the newest standings throughout MLB:

If MLB’s common season ended right this moment, this could be the matchups within the American League:

Byes
No. 1 Toronto, No. 2 Seattle

Wild Card Spherical
Finest of three

No. 3 Cleveland vs. No. 6 Detroit
No. 4 Yankees vs. No. 5 Boston

So far as the playoff format, six groups will make the postseason in each the American and Nationwide League.

The 2 division winners with the most effective data in every league will earn a bye within the Wild Card spherical, whereas the third division winner holds onto the No. 3 seed and performs the third wild-card group. The primary and second wild-card groups would be the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds, respectively, and play one another. 

The upper seed will host all three video games within the Wild Card spherical, which implies that Boston would — as of now — be attempting to maintain their season alive with a three-game collection at Yankee Stadium subsequent week.

However provided that the Yankees and Blue Jays at the moment are tied within the standings, there stands an opportunity that Boston may return to Rogers Centre subsequent week if New York takes first within the AL East and Toronto finally ends up falling into the Wild Card. 

Even when Boston goes on to clinch a playoff berth on Thursday, it will not be till Sunday that the Pink Sox discover out who they’ll face within the Wild Card spherical — given how shut so many AL groups are within the standings.

No matter how Houston fares tomorrow towards the A’s, Boston will attempt to clinch a playoff spot on Thursday once they go for a sweep towards Toronto. Brayan Bello will get the ball for Boston, with first pitch set for 7:07 p.m.

Right here’s a take a look at Wednesday’s outcomes for the highest groups within the AL:

Pink Sox defeated Blue Jays, 7-1
Guardians defeated Tigers, 5-1
Yankees defeated White Sox, 8-1
Mariners defeated Rockies, 9-2
A’s defeated Astros, 6-0

 

Conor Ryan is a workers author protecting the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Pink Sox for Boston.com, a task he has held since 2023.