Red Sox reeling have one thing on their side as playoff grip slips away: they’re in control | Chris Cotillo

BOSTON — After Wednesday’s walk-off win, Red Sox manager Alex Cora noted that a good friend of his told him, rightfully, that Septembers for contending big league teams are a time of suffering. In October, Cora surmised, it’s all about winning head-to-head matchups and moving on. But in the final month of the regular season, it’s time for scoreboard watching in hopes that the chips fall the right way after Game 162.

Thursday, then, was an afternoon of real suffering for the Red Sox, who lost to the Athletics and watched as the Guardians and Mariners both won to tighten the standings in the American League race. As Boston flies to Tampa to begin the final road trip of its season Thursday night, the club’s lead over Cleveland in the wild card standings is just 1 ½ games. That’s the tightest the margin has been, in terms of the Red Sox being on the right side of the contention line, since July 29.

Working in Boston’s favor? Some tiebreaker machinations, as the Sox hold tiebreakers over Cleveland and Houston (which is one game ahead) after winning the season series against both clubs (A tie with Seattle would be a little more dicey as it would come down to intra-division record and the Mariners, at 31-18 in that category, are better than Boston’s 28-18). And most importantly, the fact that the Red Sox currently in playoff position. Baseball is an untimed game, but the clock is ticking. Boston has just nine more games to go and simply needs to hold serve, not break.

“We control our own destiny,” said manager Alex Cora. “That’s the way I see it.”

The Rangers, who are four games back, have a very slim chance of making it, and the Yankees, with a four-game lead over the first runners-up (Cleveland), appear a certain postseason team, too. That leaves the Red Sox, Guardians and whoever wins the West (again, Seattle and Houston are tied) for two spots.

To claim a spot, the Guardians — winners of seven in a row who have 10 games left — would need to outpace the Red Sox by three wins the rest of the way. Facing the Twins, Tigers and Rangers, that’s possible as Boston takes on Tampa Bay, Toronto and Detroit. If the Red Sox go, say, 6-3, Cleveland would have to go 9-1.

Time is on Boston’s side. But to get in, facing two playoff-bound teams and another tough divisional opponent, the Red Sox have to be better than they have in recent days. With three series losses in its last four tries, Boston has lost five of seven and eight of its last 13.

“We feel like we haven’t been playing our best brand of baseball,” said shortstop Trevor Story, who had two costly throwing errors and a homer in Thursday’s loss. “It’s as simple as that. And we have the mindset we’re going to be playing for a month after this, so we’re not just trying to limp in. I think that’s a trap in itself. We need to keep looking ahead and trying to keep chasing down that division.

“We can control what happens. We play good baseball, we get in. It’s as simple as that.”

Just 10 days ago, the division seemed within reach for the Red Sox, especially with three head-to-head battles to go against the Blue Jays, who have comfortably held first place in the East for weeks. Now, that’s a near-impossible battle with a six-game difference in play (and the Yankees in second place). Home-field advantage in a Wild Card Series was also a goal for a team that, until recent weeks, had dominated at Fenway. But that pursuit, too, has also taken a backseat to simply getting in.

“The best teams always find a way to fight back so we have to embrace that,” Story said.

“It’s such a long season and such a tough task to make the postseason. The cream rises to the top.”

While the Red Sox got uneven performances by top starters Lucas Giolito and Brayan Bello and the middle relief corps has struggled in recent weeks, the top story that has contributed to Boston’s fall has been the club’s offense. A group that surged all summer after Roman Anthony was moved to the leadoff spot has spent the last two weeks searching for an identity in the wake of Anthony hitting the injured list with a strained oblique. There have been some good showings, like big first innings against Jeffrey Springs in Sacramento and the Yankees’ Will Warren on Sunday Night Baseball. Outside of those two frames, in which Boston scored a combined 10 runs, the Sox’ offense has been held to 40 runs in the other 115 innings (a pace of 3.1 runs per nine innings). Prolonged September slumps from Ceddanne Rafaela (.373 OPS), Alex Bregman (.555), Masataka Yoshida (.650) and others have stood out. So have struggles with runners in scoring position, an issue for weeks.

“We’ve got to play better baseball. That’s it,” said Cora. “Offensively, there were some signs today but we’re not there offensively. We’ve just got to make sure we understand who we are as an offense. We’ve got to keep the line moving.

“When we’re good, we don’t strike out, we hit the ball all over the place, we run the bases and the starter doesn’t go six.”

With Anthony out of the lineup and young, untested pitchers like Connelly Early, Payton Tolle and Kyle Harrison being thrust into important roles and other players dealing with the wear and tear of a six-month season, it feels like the Red Sox’ margin for error is smaller than it has been all season. Two wayward throws from the usually steady Story, along with a few early missed locations from Bello, led to Thursday’s loss. In the final week-plus, it feels like the Red Sox have to play close to perfect baseball.

“Postseason games, none of them are gonna be easy,” said Story. “I think that’s gonna be the message, that these are the types of games you’re gonna be playing if you’re winning the whole thing.”

A relatively young roster doesn’t have too many players who have played in the postseason before, but veterans like Bregman, Story, Lowe, Aroldis Chapman and others know it’s best to stay the course. So too does Cora, who finds himself in a similar position as he did four years ago. At that point, despite having five more wins than the Sox do now, that club had faded in September and held just a 2 ½ game lead on a postseason spot with nine games to go. That advantage shrunk to one game (back when there were just two wild card teams) with a week left in the regular season, then the Sox entered the final weekend in a tie with Seattle. A sweep in Washington, D.C. in the final series led to the Red Sox clinching with a win in Game 162.

“In 2021, we went behind and we came back. This is nothing new,” Cora said. “I take it the same way I took it in ‘21. Take it one day at a time. Don’t get too high, don’t get too low. It’s part of the season. It’s 162 for a reason.”

In spring training, the Red Sox would have almost certainly been happy with a prediction that they’d be in possession of a postseason spot with nine games to go. That remains true even if things have gotten a little sweaty in recent weeks. Now, it’s about holding on, holding serve and hoping they can stay afloat long enough to be able to pop champagne bottles late next week.

“Obviously, we spoiled a chance today but we feel good about finishing out the season because we can control it,” said Story. “We know how good we can be. We’ve proven that, but it’s time to do it when the time is right. That’s now.”

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