Boston Red Sox "running out of time" in race for Wild Card playoff spot
BOSTON -- The postseason dreams of the Boston Red Sox dissipate a little more with each loss. With a 4-1 defeat to the New York Mets on Monday night, the Red Sox are now closer to last place in the AL East than an American League Wild Card spot.
With just 24 games remaining in the regular season, the Red Sox are 4.5 games behind the Kansas City Royals for the last AL Wild Card berth. Boston is spiraling at the worst possible time, losing three straight, eight of 11, and 10 of its last 15 games.
The Red Sox are now just 70-68 on the season, a far cry from the 53-44 record they took into the All-Star break. Since that point, the Boston owns a 5.29 ERA (28th in baseball) and a 6.20 bullpen ERA (last in the big leagues).
The once-reliable Red Sox offense has also gone silent. The team has left 15 runners on base over the last three games, going 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The Red Sox scored just one run for the third straight game on Monday night and have plated just 10 runs over the last five games, mostly thanks to a 7-5, 10-inning win over the Tigers last Friday.
Alex Cora says Red Sox are "running out of time"
Mix in some choppy defense -- with Jarren Duran and Tyler O'Neil both misplaying balls in the outfield Monday night, leading to a pair of Mets runs -- and nothing is going right for the Red Sox at a critical juncture of the season. While the team has enough to worry about with themselves, they're also doing some scoreboard watching.
But when things end up going their way, the Red Sox haven't been taking advantage.
"We are not playing well right now. It's not going our way right now," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after Monday night's loss in New York. "We have to show up tomorrow and try to win a game.
"We are running out of time. Let's put it that way," added Cora. "I know what the other teams are doing. They are not playing well either, but the days we don't take advantage of it are wasted days. So we have to find a way to win a game."
Missed opportunity for Red Sox
Monday night was a missed opportunity for Boston as Kansas City lost its sixth straight, falling to the Cleveland Guardians, 4-2. The Royals have two more against Cleveland before a huge three-game set against the Minnesota Twins, whom they trail by a game for the second Wild Card spot.
So the Red Sox will have a chance to gain ground on one of those teams -- as long as they actually win some games against the Mets and lowly Chicago White Sox, who are at Fenway Park for a three-game set over the weekend.
After the Red Sox finish with the Mets, four of their seven series will come against teams with a sub.-500 record: The White Sox, the Toronto Blue Jays, and two series against the Tampa Bay Rays. They'll also play the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees, and welcome the Twins to Fenway Park for a massive three-game series from Sept. 20-22.
In addition to three against Boston, the Twins also have series against Cleveland and Kansas City, so the Red Sox will have chances to make up ground on Minnesota.
But to make up ground and sneak back into the Wild Card race, the Red Sox have to go win some ballgames. That isn't something they've done consistently since the All-Star break.
