The Boston Red Sox are going nowhere in 2015, but they’re still not going down without a fight.
With their slim postseason hopes gone thanks to the Houston Astros’ 3-2 win over the Seattle Mariners on Monday, the Red Sox still have a chance to play spoiler in the American League East. And their latest victims are the New York Yankees.
Boston stole its second straight win in the Bronx on Tuesday with a 10-4 beating, pushing the Yankees that much farther from the AL East title. If the Yanks lose one more game, then the Toronto Blue Jays officially clinch the division, and New York will have to hope the Astros and Los Angeles Angels don’t go on a run to knock the club out of wild-card contention.
But the Red Sox shouldn’t be ashamed of their role as spoiler. They’ve come a long way from where they were on July 29, for instance, when they were 14 games below .500 at 44-58. Now, at 77-80, they’re the sole owners of third place in the AL East, and they’re showing the rest of the division that they mean business.
“It’s something we’re very proud of,” interim manager Torey Lovullo said Tuesday night, per The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham. “We’re not shutting down. We’re playing the way the Boston Red Sox are supposed to play baseball. I think we answered the question if we were going to be ready for the remainder of the season.”
At the end of the day, the Red Sox are giving their opponents a taste of what they’ll be up against in 2016, which is a competitive young team. The outfield consists of Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts and Rusney Castillo, who have dazzled Major League Baseball with stellar defense and consistent offense. Xander Bogaerts has proved to be a force in the lineup, on the base paths and in the field. Even 22-year-old Eduardo Rodriguez has shown that he’s legitimately major-league ready, perhaps earlier than expected.
And for the fans who were disappointed in the rest of the season, it doesn’t get much better than holding back the Yankees.
Thumbnail photo via Anthony Gruppuso-/USA TODAY Sports Images
