The Red Sox have surpassed their win total from last season
BOSTON -- The Red Sox won on Monday night to keep their playoff hopes on life support for at least another night. More importantly, the victory assured this year's team will finish with a better record than the previous two Red Sox teams.
Yeah, the bar is set pretty low in terms of a successful season for the Red Sox. But with a 4-1 win over the Blue Jays in Toronto, the 2024 Red Sox are now 79-78 on the season. Boston finished 78-84 in both 2022 and 2023, so this year will represent a step in the right direction -- at least record-wise.
Chances are good that the Red Sox will miss the playoffs for a third straight season, as they sit 3.5 games back of the final Wild Card spot with five games left. That is fairly disappointing given Boston held the third AL Wild Card spot back on July 15. Plus, a franchise like the Red Sox should never go three years without a playoff game. However, another lackluster trade deadline brought no real help for the team, and they collapsed down the stretch yet again.
But if you're looking for a silver lining, at least this year's team will have a better record than the one saw Boston finish with the last two years. There's even a chance -- and a realistic one at that -- that the Red Sox will finish at or above .500 for the first time in three years.
The Red Sox need to win two of their final five games -- they have two more in Toronto before closing the season with three games against the Rays at Fenway Park -- to avoid a losing season. Three more wins and they'll have a winning record for the first time since 2021, when the Red Sox made a run to the ALCS.
So maybe the campaign will end on a bit of a positive note, with a winning season from a team that many picked to finish last in the division. Monday's win assures that Boston won't occupy the cellar of the AL East, with the Blue Jays at the bottom with a 73-84 on the year.
Making it to the playoffs is going to be a lot more difficult, with three teams to leapfrog if the Red Sox want to see October. Boston would have to win out and hope the Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins both go 2-4 to finish the season, while the Seattle Mariners can do no better than 3-2 for Boston to make the postseason.
Boston's "tragic number" remains at three heading into Tuesday's MLB action, so the earliest they can be eliminated from postseason contention is Wednesday night.
