The Boston Red Sox are heading back to the postseason. The Red Sox clinched the top American League wild card spot with Sunday afternoon’s win over the Nationals (BOS 7, WAS 5). Boston will meet the AL East rival Yankees in the Wild Card Game at Fenway Park on Tuesday. The Yankees clinched a wild-card spot earlier on Sunday.
Rafael Devers led the Red Sox to the come-from-behind win Sunday. He got the Red Sox on the board with a fourth inning solo home run, then clubbed the tie-breaking and game-winning two-run homer in the top of the ninth.
The Red Sox have had a very good, albeit uneven season. They went 55-36 in the first half and they spent 85 days in first place, but then slipped to 37-34 in the second half, including 12-16 in August. Because Boston won the season series 10-9 against the Yankees, they will host the Wild Card Game despite the two teams finishing with identical 92-70 records.
In a short postseason series, the Red Sox are an awfully dangerous matchup. Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi are a strong 1-2 punch atop the rotation — Eovaldi will start the Wild Card Game, presumably with Sale available in relief — and they have one of the highest scoring offenses in baseball. Boston went into Sunday’s averaging a healthy 5.22 runs per game.
This will be the first time the Red Sox play in the Wild Card Game and their first trip to the postseason since winning three consecutive AL East titles from 2016-18. A year ago Boston finished with one of the worst records in baseball at 24-36.
