Red Sox 6, A's 4

 

It took an extra inning, but the Sox got a much-needed win. The magic number over Cleveland is now eight with ten games remaining. 

Giolito didn't have the stuff yesterday and gave up four runs in 4⅓ innings. Boston went deep into the bullpen the rest of the game, ultimately calling on seven relievers, but the effort paid off. Collectively, the bullpen got seven K's, and gave up zero runs on five hits and only one walk. 

It's the bats that have been the problem lately. The offense didn't exactly come alive last night, but after the bullpen took over, the Sox began chipping away at the A's lead with a single here, a fielder's choice there. The game went into a tenth inning tied at 4, and after an intentional walk followed by a bunt, Nick Sogard came off the bench and hit a single that scored Nate Eaton from third. The Sox won, 5-4. 

Forget about your Yankees and your Blue Jays. All that matters right now, besides the Red Sox winning of course, is Cleveland. The Guardians shut out Detroit last night, 4-0, their sixth straight win, 11th of the past 12 games. They are keeping the pressure on in the Wild Card standings, and with Boston and Seattle tied for the last available playoff spot, Cleveland trails by 2½ games.

The Sox have ten games left to the season. To clinch a Wild Card spot in the playoffs, the Red Sox need any combination of eight Boston wins or Cleveland losses. But we're struggling with the lowly A's - we lost the first game and needed extra innings to win the second - and it only gets harder from here. After  tonight's rubber game against Oakland, we play division rivals Tampa Bay (74-78), divisions leaders Toronto (89-63), and then AL Central-leading Detroit (85-67). 

Cleveland still has four more games against Detroit this season, plus three against Texas (79-74) and three against the Twins (66-86). I'm not gonna say who has the tougher schedule down the stretch, and instead wonder just how long the Guardians can maintain their current hot streak.

It's Brayan Bello (11-7, 3.25) versus G.T. Ginn (3-6, 4.69) this afternoon. Let's hope that Sogard's extra-innings heroics last night spark the team to take this series and get the remaining wins we need.