Boston Red Sox have postseason home-field advantage in their sights
By Sean Penney
Strength of schedule will play a factor in how this race is decided and this is where the Red Sox may be at a disadvantage.
Boston wraps up their series in Baltimore Thursday night against an O’s team clinging to the second Wild Card spot. Even with the Red Sox sending ace David Price to the mound, a desperate Orioles team can still be dangerous. That’s followed by the only reprieve left on their schedule, with three games against the cellar-dweller Tampa Bay Rays. It’s a lost season for the Rays, but they have played the Red Sox tough this season and can’t be taken lightly. Boston is 9-7 against the Rays this season and 3-4 at Tropicana Field.
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The road trip finishes up in New York against a Yankees team fighting to climb into a Wild Card spot. After the Red Sox ripped their hearts out with a four-game sweep at Fenway, you know the Yankees will be out for revenge. That leaves us with the Red Sox returning home to take on the Blue Jays in the final series of the season. Even if Boston has managed to clinch the division by that point, Toronto may very well be fighting for home-field in the Wild Card round, so they certainly won’t lay down.
Cleveland’s path isn’t much easier, with seven of their remaining eleven games on the road. They will get to beat up on the Chicago White Sox at home this weekend, but then have to travel to Detroit, where they have been swept by the Tigers twice already this season. The Indians finish up in Kansas City against a Royals team with the fifth most home wins in the league. This matchup will be even more difficult if the defending champions are still alive in the playoff hunt.
The Rangers have the easiest remaining schedule of the three division leaders, with six of their remaining nine games at home. Not only do they have the most home games remaining, but Texas also won’t face a team with a winning record the rest of the way. Their last road trip takes them to Oakland this weekend to face the last place A’s, before they return home to host the Milwaukee Brewers and Rays.