While the Boston Red Sox have playoff plans of their own, the team still has yet to clinch a berth to the postseason despite being in a good spot. Though the Red Sox's playoff chances were dwindling almost a week ago, the magic number is two for the team to lock in their spot in the dance, but manager Alex Cora provides the team with a reality check.
As mentioned, if Boston wins two of their final four games, they are in, but if not, the team will have to hope other teams like the Houston Astros don't get on a hot streak to end the season. Even though they control their own destiny, Cora focused on the games in front of them, saying that besides the “great position,” the team has “to finish it,” according to Christopher Smith.
“We still have to finish it,” Cora said. “We put ourselves in a great position so far; we still got games to play; we just have to take it day by day; we enjoy this one, see what happens tonight, and then we’ll know what we have to do the rest of the way to make it to October.”
Part of the team's success this season was acquiring pitcher Garrett Crochet, who has been impeccable this season, earning his latest win in the 7-1 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday. He pitched eight strong innings, striking out six batters and allowing six hits and zero earned runs.
“We still got a lot of games that we intend on playing, and I don’t intend on that being my last one,” Crochet said, according to Mass Live.
Red Sox's success led by ace pitcher Garrett Crochet
With the Red Sox ace in consideration for the AL Cy Young Award, he has a stat line of a league-leading 255 strikeouts, sporting a 2.59 ERA with an 18-5 record. Cora speaks about his excellence and what the team needs to go for him to pitch in Game 1 of any playoff game.
“He did his job, and now the rest of us have to finish it,” Cora said. “Hopefully, he can pitch Game 1, whenever it is.”
At any rate, Crochet is determined to play in the postseason as Boston looks to keep their playoff spot, closing out the series against the Blue Jays on Thursday night. The Red Sox's final series will be with the Detroit Tigers, starting on Friday.
