Red Sox Standings Watch: AL East division race isn’t over yet
By Sean Penney
The Boston Red Sox hold a commanding lead in the AL East but history shows that we can’t necessarily count on a division title yet.
We knew this would be a pivotal series. Any meeting between the Boston Red Sox and their archrival seems important yet the stakes are raised when they are locked in a tight division race. The New York Yankees had an opportunity to come into Fenway and put a bigger dent in Boston’s lead than the indentations littering the left field wall. Instead, they found themselves buried by a four-game sweep that hands their foes a monstrous edge in the AL East.
The Red Sox now hold a 9.5 game lead over the Yankees. A canyon-sized advantage, yet not an insurmountable one. There’s still plenty of baseball left to play so we caution against placing that order for your 2018 division champion tee-shirts just yet.
Boston’s 79-34 record gives them a .699 winning percentage, which would be the highest in franchise history. They are on pace for 113 wins, a total topped by only three teams in major league history. The 1906 Chicago Cubs and 2001 Seattle Mariners share the record with 116 wins, while the 1998 New York Yankees won 114.
If this team is having a historically great season then why should we be concerned about this massive division lead crumbling away? Well, it wouldn’t be the first time.