If September collapses aren’t already becoming the Boston Red Sox’s trademark, they’re certainly close to it.
The team has been awful in September for the past three years. While 2021 wasn’t great either, they at least managed to hold it together and clinch a playoff spot on the final day of the season. This year, however, they might be in for another stressful finish—or potentially something much worse.
After back-to-back series losses at Fenway Park, the Red Sox have just a 1 1/2-game lead over the Cleveland Guardians. Per Fangraphs, the Red Sox’s odds of making the playoffs have fallen to 83.0% — down from 98.2% when Roman Anthony got hurt against the Guardians on Sept. 2.
Manager Alex Cora’s message on playoff ‘destiny’
Manager Alex Cora is aware that his team is at risk of squandering what should have been a near-certain playoff berth. Boston has dropped eight of its last 13 games, while the Guardians have won 12 of 13, closing the gap by a rapid seven games in the standings.
That said, Cora believes that as long as the team’s fate is still in their own hands, they have no reason to complain.
“We control our own destiny,” said Cora, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. “That’s the way I see it.”
Boston will send ace Garrett Crochet to the mound for the penultimate time this season on Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays. It’s a crucial game to win, and Cora laid out the blueprint for how he wants to see his team finish.
“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.”
Time and time again, Crochet has been there to keep Boston on course when everything was going haywire around them. On Friday night, they call upon him again, needing him to bail them out of the ultiamte pickle.
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