Sep. 5—It’s hard to describe how dark things looked on Tuesday night. Already mired in a devastating slump, the Red Sox were dropping like flies amid a widespread COVID-19 outbreak, and things came to a head when Xander Bogaerts was pulled off the field mid-inning after testing positive himself.
Given everything that had been going on it felt like the season was hanging by a thread, but then the calendar turned to September and everything changed.
With Saturday’s thrilling 4-3 win over the Indians, the Red Sox have now won four straight and have improbably shored up their place in the American League Wild Card race despite missing nearly a quarter of the club’s big league roster.
Combined with the Yankees’ loss to the last-place Orioles and the Athletics’ loss to the Blue Jays, the Red Sox now trail the Yankees by just a half-game in the AL Wild Card race and are four games clear of the Athletics for the second Wild Card spot. They are also 9-4 in their last 13 games overall and have won four out of five series.
Saturday’s win didn’t come easily. The Red Sox didn’t score until Rafael Devers’ three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, and then with two outs in the ninth the Indians tied the game on a two-run shot by Franmil Reyes off Adam Ottavino.
But in a scene reminiscent of the first half when the Red Sox seemingly came back against everyone, Boston responded by loading the bases and winning on a walk-off single by Alex Verdugo, who said afterwards that he took it personally that the Indians intentionally walked J.D. Martinez to face him with the game on the line instead.
Before the thrilling finish, the Red Sox once again got a strong showing from its starting pitcher. Tanner Houck pitched five scoreless innings, striking out seven while allowing three hits and no walks on 68 pitches. His gem came after Boston also got terrific outings this week from Nathan Eovaldi, Eduardo Rodriguez and Chris Sale, all of whom pitched at least six innings and allowed three runs or fewer to help stabilize the Red Sox amid what could have been a calamitous stretch.
Even with a growing cushion in the Wild Card race, the Red Sox lead is far from safe. Boston is about to open a nine-game stretch against the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago White Sox and Seattle Mariners, all playoff contenders.
The Red Sox still have a long way to go, but with their COVID-19 infected players set to return soon, they’ve given themselves a chance to stay in the hunt.
Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.