The Boston Red Sox were supposed to be a lock for the MLB postseason. That's no longer the case. At the end of August, the Red Sox held a 1.5 game lead in the AL East heading into a three game home-series with their division rival - New York Yankees. At that time, fans and experts were only thinking about the division title. No one thought that the Red Sox would be in a fight for the AL Wild Card race just two weeks later. Since that series with the Yankees, things have spiraled out of control for the Red Sox as they are currently in the middle of a five game losing streak and have dropped 9 of their last 11 games.
This past weekend the Tampa Bay Rays swept the lowly Red Sox and erased what was once a 10 game lead into a 3.5 game lead for the only Wild Card spot in the American League. The injury-ravaged Red Sox rotation, which is missing Josh Beckett, Clay Bucholz, and Erik Bedard has been the main cause for this recent skid. In the past 11 games, only twice has a Red Sox starting pitcher lasted longer that 5 innings. And I thought I had issues with 'short outings'.
Looking ahead, things do not get any easier for the Red Sox coming up as they host the Toronto Blue Jays and then finish off the week with a four game series against the Rays. Meanwhile, the Rays take on the Baltimore Orioles before making the trek up to Fenway on Thursday. I look for the Rays to handle the Orioles and will take them at -180 to win the series setting up what will be a make or break series for the Rays and the Red Sox this weekend.
Don't forget about the Angels/Rangers race out West. The Angels are now only 2.5 games back of 1st place in the West AND are only 5 back of the Wild Card. The Rays and Red Sox still have a 4 game series to go against each other. Things could get realllllll fuzzy in the next 3 weeks.
ReplyDeleteYeah, wow - I didn't even look at those races - just give me a scenario where the Red Sox are at home in October and I'm in
ReplyDeleteThe angels next 13 games are as follows:
ReplyDelete6 against Oakland (3 home, 3 away)
3 @ Baltimore and
4 @ toronto. Could come out of that 10-3. setting up the last 3 games of the year at home verse Texas.
Yeah - i just realized I don't really care about the AL West. But Dan Haren and Jared Weaver might be a tough 1-2 combo so I'll be rooting for Texas to pull that one out
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