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The one upside to Red Sox official elimination from postseason contention

By Gabrielle Starr

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 25: Brayan Bello #66 of the Boston Red Sox waits to pitch in the sixth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on September 25, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 25: Brayan Bello #66 of the Boston Red Sox waits to pitch in the sixth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on September 25, 2022 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Yankees sweep Red Sox, officially eliminate them from playoff race

During a torrential downpour on Sunday night, the Boston Red Sox were swept by the New York Yankees in their final series of the season, and in doing so, they officially mathematically eliminated themselves from the American League Wild Card race.

The series finale was literally a perfect storm, and the brutally fitting way to bookend this frustrating, underwhelming season.

But the Sox can take one good thing away from this weekend:

They did not allow Aaron Judge to tie Roger Maris for the all-time American League single-season home run record.

Aaron Judge failed to hit record-tying 61st home run in Red Sox series

Judge entered the series with 60 homers, one away from matching Maris’ feat in the 1961 Yankees season, and he leaves with that number unchanged.

It’s a stunning accomplishment by the Sox pitching staff, who came into Sunday’s game with a collective 4.47 ERA, significantly worse than the league-average 3.98; only six teams have a worse mark.

It’s worth noting that while the Sox have allowed the seventh-most earned runs in the game this year, they’ve allowed fewer home runs than league average. However, they did allow several home runs throughout the series, including to Aaron Hicks and Anthony Rizzo, so did the Sox shut Judge down, or did he choke? He’s homered off several Sox pitchers in the past, and his numbers at Yankee Stadium this year are excellent.

Who could blame Judge, though? One home run away from tying a record that’s stood for over half a century, in what’s already a high-pressure environment on any day of the season, and with Maris’ own family in the stands? Most of us mere mortals couldn’t hit a big-league home run, period, never mind in the situation he’s in.

Either way, no Red Sox pitcher will be cemented in the history books as the unfortunate vehicle for Judge’s historic achievement. The season series against their greatest rivals is mercifully over, and the pressure now falls to the next team going up against the Yankees.

A small consolation in an inconsolable season, but a consolation nonetheless.

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