The good news? If the Major League Baseball season ended right now, the Boston Red Sox would be in the postseason.
The bad news? The struggles still are prominent.
The latest case was Tuesday night when Boston once held a 9-3 lead against the Twins, but the bullpen had a rough outing and allowed Minnesota to make it interesting. Had it not been for Kiké Hernández’s home run in the eighth inning, who knows how long the eventual 11-9 win would have gone on.
But at the end of the day, the Red Sox have possession of the second Wild Card spot, Hernández knows at some point, a team will go through some sort of slump, and reiterated as much during his appearance on WEEI’s “Ordway, Merloni & Fauria.”
“It’s been a grind. It’s been a little bit of a grind, and playing a 162-game season at some point you’re gonna have to go through the roller coaster,” Hernández said during NESN’s coverage of the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon. “You’re gonna feel like you reached frock bottom. For us I feel like it can’t get any worse than this. There’s only way to go and its up from here. So, we’re still finding ways to win ballgames which is what matters, and playing in six postseasons I’ve seen it happen. … In October the one who wins is the one who gets to October hot.
“We’re in a good spot still, we got the second Wild Card and if the playoffs start tomorrow we’re in the playoffs,” Hernández added. “… The motto In the club house right now is the season starts today. Every day the season stars today and see how good we can be for the 30-something games we have left. It’s all about getting hot at the right time.”
The Red Sox can make it three straight wins and continue their momentum Wednesday night in their middle game against the Twins at Fenway Park. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET.
