Boston Red Sox have postseason home-field advantage in their sights

Now that we’ve established the benefits of home-field advantage, let’s look at the Red Sox chances of leaping over the competition to obtain it.

Boston may currently be trailing among this trio, but they also have the most momentum. The Red Sox have won seven straight and eight of their last ten. Meanwhile, Cleveland has gone 6-4 over their last ten games and the Rangers are floundering at 5-5.

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While their record to this point hasn’t quite matched the teams ahead of them, Boston’s league-leading +186 run differential suggests that they are a better team than their record indicates. Only the Chicago Cubs (+239) have a better run differential in the majors. Cleveland is a distant second in the AL at +105, while Texas defies logic with a league best record despite a run differential of only +9.

The Rangers own a staggering 36-11 record in one-run games, giving them a .766 winning percentage that would top the 2012 Baltimore Orioles (29-9, .763) for the major league record. Somehow they have managed to accomplish this in spite of a bullpen that ranks dead last in the league with a 4.63 ERA. Give them credit for some clutch hitting in these close games, but these results still scream the word fluke.

As for Cleveland, they will be hard-pressed to match their current pace with the likes of Mike Clevinger (4.76 ERA) and Cody Anderson (6.24 ERA) filling in for their injured starters down the stretch. A rotation that looked to be the best in the league to start the season will now have to rely heavily on the arm of Corey Kluber to survive in October.