September looms large in chase for AL East
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — No need to use a pen yet, but you can at least use a pencil to start planning your October sports calendar.
With the Red Sox in the thick of their chase for a division title — or, their distant second choice, a wild card berth — Major League Baseball released its postseason schedule yesterday.
As yesterday began, there were nine American League teams — the Red Sox, Rangers, Indians, Blue Jays, Orioles, Tigers, Royals, Mariners, Astros and Yankees — either atop their division or within five games of a wild card berth. So there is plenty of winnowing to be done before the pack thins out.
If there is a tie for a wild card berth, then the playoff game would take place Monday, Oct. 3, the day after the final game of the regular season. The winner would then play the other wild card team in a one-game playoff on Oct. 4.
The two five-game AL Division Series both begin on Thursday, Oct. 6, with the AL Championship Series kicking off Friday, Oct. 14. The World Series begins Tuesday, Oct. 25, in the American League city, with a potential Game 7 concluding the season on Wednesday, Nov. 2.
This season will be the fifth with the one-game wild card playoff game, a situation the Red Sox avoided in their championship run in 2013 because they won their division. It’s a feat they are aiming to duplicate.
“Look, anything can happen in the playoffs. Anything,” Red Sox principal owner John Henry said last week. “When the wild card was as valuable as winning the division, that was our goal.
“These days, the goal every year is to win the division. That’s our goal. … Being the best team in your division — a tough division — over 162 games is quite an accomplishment these days. That’s what we’re shooting for.”
Besides simply winning enough games to win any variety of playoff berth, the Red Sox also will want to maintain or improve series records whenever they can. That’s because, after best overall record, head-tohead matchups are the first tiebreaker, followed by divisional record when it comes to determining home-field advantage.
The Red Sox have a mixed bag in the tiebreaker department so far.
After last night’s 2-1 victory over the Rays, the Red Sox still have 28 games of their remaining 37 games scheduled against AL East foes. Against the Orioles, they have a 6-6 record, with seven games left to play against them. Against the Blue Jays, they are 6-7 with six games remaining, with the season-ending three-game series at Fenway, Sept. 30-Oct. 2, looming large.
Against the Yankees, the Red Sox are 7-5 with seven games remaining.
With that many games remaining against each AL East foe, it’s way too early to predict what will happen, but the urgency remains.
When it comes to the divisional record matchups, the Red Sox have some work to do.
After last night’s games, the Blue Jays are the best against the East so far, with a 29-22 record. Next come the Orioles at 26-21, then the Red Sox at 26-22. The Yankees, who began the day five games back in the wild card chase with a 63-61 record, had gone 20-27 against their division.