While there is debate as to how important winning the division is for the Sox, the club does have a statistical milestone to shoot for: 100 wins.
In 110 previous seasons, Boston has only finished with 100 wins or greater on three occassions — 1912, 1915 and 1946, and none of these teams played more than 156 games. Reaching the century mark boded well for the 1912 and 1915 teams, who claimed World Series glory.
Getting to 100 wins isn't a prerequisite for October success, however. Only two of the previous 23 World Series champions have won more than 100 games: The 1998 Yankees (114) and the 2009 Yankees (103). In that same period, six teams (1988 Athletics, 1990 Athletics, 1995 Indians, 1999 Braves, 2003 Yankees, 2005 Cardinals) lost the Fall Classic to a team with less than 100 wins.
The 1978 Sox still rue the day they failed to reach to 100-win mark. Facing the rival Yanks in a one-game playoff at Fenway Park, Boston fell 5-4, missing out on a postseason berth with a final record of 99-64.
The Sox sit at 80-51 entering Saturday, meaning in order to get to win 100 games, the club needs to go 20-11 or better the remainder of the season. This .645 winning percentage is slightly higher than the team's .611 percentage entering Saturday's action.
The schedule holds a mixed bag going forward. There are six more tilts with the playoff-bound Yankees and a three-game set with the AL West-leading Rangers. The Sox get the Rays, who are 12 games over .500, for seven more games as well, but aside from these matchups the schedule appears adventageous with 13 games against the Blue Jays and Orioles, who both sit in the basement of the AL East.
