Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 1

 

Crochet delivers - eight innings of shut-out baseball with no runs and six K's and, most importantly, a big win for the Boston Red Sox. Masataka Yoshida hit a solo homer and an RBI single, González hit a two-RBI single, and Narváez hit a three-run homer. The Red Sox lead this all-important road series two games to none. 

And look what those wins have done - with the losses, the Blue Jays have fallen into a tie with New York for first place. If the season were to end with the standings the way they are right now, the Sox wouldn't have to face the Yankees in the Wild Card round, but would instead repeat this series with the Jays. As I said before, I don't care if we win a single playoff game (although that would be nice) - the goal for 2025 is just to make the playoffs. After that, we're playing with the house's money. But with four games remaining to the season, there's still no telling who will win the AL East and who will play in the Wild Card round. In fact, Boston is three games back from New York and Toronto with four games left to the season - although highly unlikely, we're not mathematically eliminated from winning the Division. 

But here's the thing - with four games remaining, the Red Sox magic number is now down to one! Last night, Houston lost (again) to those pesky A's, and the combination of a Red Sox win and a Houston loss brings Boston's magic number down to one. If we win tonight and sweep the Jays, or win any one of the remaining four games, or if Houston loses any one of its remaining games, we're in. We've made it to the playoffs and met our 2025 goal! 

It's a great time to be alive, isn't it?

Hilariously, the Detroit Tigers lost their eighth consecutive game last night. Between Houston's five-game losing streak and Detroit's eight, it almost seems like both teams are competing to avoid the playoffs. Tomorrow, the Tigers bring what's left of their post-season ambitions to Fenway for a final, three-game series against the Red Sox.

But let's not look ahead to tomorrow. Let's win this mother right here, right now, with a sweep of Toronto. Tonight, Brayan Bello (11-8, 3.34) takes the mound against Louie Varland (4-3, 3.10) for all the marbles. One additional bonus of Crochet's performance last night is that it let us rest Chapman, so he's available to close tonight if need be.  A Boston win would be incredible for the Sox and devastating for the Jays. Let's make it happen!