After suffering an unceremonious two-game sweep at home against the last-place Baltimore Orioles, the Boston Red Sox are now staring down the most important eight-game stretch of their season.
First up: the New York Yankees, Boston's chief rival and primary competition for the top Wild Card spot in the American League. It'll be a hard-fought four-game weekend affair, with every contest coming in the hostile environment of the Bronx.
There's no rest for the weary, though, as, following the Yankees series, the Red Sox will immediately have to travel to Baltimore for a shot at redemption in another four-game series starting on Monday, August 25.
With practically everything on the line right now, can the Red Sox make another push for better playoff positioning?
Yankees, Orioles series could alter Red Sox season given brutal September schedule
It's the Yankees series that contains obvious playoff implications, as the Bronx Bombers currently hold a 1.5-game lead over the Sox for the first Wild Card (and No. 4 seed in the playoffs) in the junior circuit. A four-game sweep would launch the Sox more than two games in front of the Yankees, though even taking three would put them in pole position in the Wild Card race.
The set agains the Orioles matters, too, because it's the last time the Red Sox will get to play the last-place team in the division. There's only so many favorable games left on the schedule, and taking advantage of a bad O's team will be important to either recovering from a tough Yankees series or consolidating the standings advantage they create on New York.
This stretch is also important because the Red Sox don't have another off-day until Sept. 4, as they have a six-game homestand against the Pirates and Guardians right after returning from Baltimore.
Unfortunately, the schedule isn't going to lighten up much after these series either. Save for that three-game series with the Pirates and six games with the Athletics, this is what Red Sox fans have to look forward to over the last month of the regular season:
- 3 games versus Guardians (home)
- 3 games versus Diamondbacks (away)
- 3 games versus Yankees (home)
- 3 games versus Rays (away)
- 3 games versus Blue Jays (away)
- 3 games versus Tigers (home)
That's three teams trying to stay relevant in the postseason race, the Yankees, and the only two teams in the American League with more than 70 wins (and the division leaders in the AL East and Central).
Suffice it to say, it would behoove the Red Sox to try and win a few of these next eight games before that late-season crunch. They're already making roster moves in anticipation of this grueling road trip, and there will be a clear sense of urgency in the clubhouse over the next week and change.
Hopefully, the Red Sox can buckle down and come out of this road trip better than how they're starting it.