What’s one win in an ocean of them? That’s the question the Boston Red Sox must answer today. With their magic number to clinch the American League East sliced all the way down to two, all the Sox have to do is win two more games before the regular season is over to secure a divisional title and avoid playing the AL Wild Card Game. However, beating the New York Yankees today would wrap things up without any need for that second win.
With 103 wins (and counting), the Sox have not really been threatened with wild card duty for quite a while, but with the second-place Yankees, who sport the third-best record in baseball, nipping at their heels (OK, nipping is being pretty generous), the Sox weren’t able to entirely coast through August and the first half of September.