Race to the playoffs: the Red Sox are (really) slipping away
Right now in MLB, there’s a lot of talk about the race in the American East. The Blue Jays seem to have a fairly comfortable lead over the Yankees, even though the Bombers took a game back from the Jays yesterday.
The Yankees inflicted a beating on the Orioles, while the Rays played a trick on the Jays. Still, Toronto has a three-game lead at the top of the division.
That said, it wasn’t so long ago that the Red Sox were in the thick of that race. Roman Anthony’s injury, however, has hurt the club, which can’t capitalize on a rather favorable schedule.
The club has a 5-8 record since Anthony’s injury… and just yesterday, they were defeated by the Athletics.
Suddenly, not only is the club out of the running for the division, they’re also dealing with teams who want to steal their spot as a drafted team.
The Guardians, for example, simply don’t lose anymore… and they’re a game and a half behind the Red Sox this morning.
The Cleveland Guardians are amazing. Two hitters with an OPS+ over 100. A minus-23 run differential. And a seven-game winning streak that has vaulted them to within 3.5 games of Detroit in the Central and 1.5 back of Boston for the wild card. Just a really well-run organization.
– Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 18, 2025
The problem for Boston, though, is that the club’s end of season won’t be easy. After losing a series to the poor Athletics, the Sox will face the Rays, Blue Jays and Tigers three times each to end the season.
The Guardians, meanwhile, will face the Twins (four times), then take on the Tigers (three times) and Rangers (three times) to finish the year. The advantage of the schedule is Cleveland’s right now.
In Boston, we can at least take comfort in the fact that we still hold the tie-breaker over the Guardians, which means that the club’s lead is really two games (given that Cleveland must have a better record than Boston at the end of the season to go to the playoffs).
But one way or another, the Red Sox will have to start finding their way back to winning quickly. Because with the recent surge of the Guardians and Mariners (who have leapfrogged them), the path to the playoffs could quickly become difficult for Boston to contemplate.
- National League standings.
- 18th win of the season for Max Fried.
Max Fried becomes the first 18-game winner this season as the @Yankees take the opener in Baltimore! pic.twitter.com/OfoJGgWFeX
— MLB (@MLB) September 19, 2025
- A 100-point season for Christian Yelich.
Christian Yelich’s only other season with 100-plus RBIs was when he won MVP in 2018 pic.twitter.com/D8D1anOcu1
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 19, 2025
- Big game for Hunter Greene.
Hunter Greene allows just one hit while tossing a complete game shutout! pic.twitter.com/pDAzLRxAMm
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 19, 2025
- Clayton Kershaw explains his decision to retire.
Clayton Kershaw holds back tears as he speaks on his retirement at the end of the season pic.twitter.com/ikWFFEWYjA
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) September 19, 2025
This content was created with the help of AI.