Red Sox Notes: Boston Stays ‘Realistic’ About Playoffs In Exclamation Win

BOSTON -- The Red Sox are playing meaningful games in September.

That's probably a win at the start of the season. In the height of the pennant race, it's the bare minimum as Boston looks to stay alive. The ballclub did that on the backs of Nick Pivetta's six innings and Tyler O'Neill's walk-off home run to win the game and take the series from the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night at Fenway Park.

"We've been pitching, which is awesome," Cora said "Hopefully at one point, we start hitting again. Grind out the game. Took advantage of one swing and (O'Neill) put a good swing on it. We obviously needed this one. Hopefully it's the beginning of something big."

"It's what you live for," Pivetta said. "It's a very exciting time. It still comes down to the same game on the same night. Go out and execute pitches and do the best you can to keep the team in the dugout as long as you can so you can hit and do what they do."

Even with a high-energy, extra-innings win for the Red Sox, the path to the playoffs remains dim. The Red Sox have just 16 games remaining and need help from teams ahead of them in the American League to have any shot of playing in October.

"It's day-by-day," O'Neill said. "You can't look at the big picture too much. Got a ballgame to win every day. You gotta make up ground by winning games and other teams losing games. You can't focus on other teams right now. We gotta focus on ourselves."

A seven-game road trip against the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays lies ahead for the Red Sox where the team must do more than just stay afloat and instead surge to be in the running at the end of the regular season.

"Still there," Cora added. "It's getting harder and harder, but it's realistic. Let's be honest. Let's go to New York and win the series. We just won a series against one of the best teams in the big leagues. Obviously, in our situation, it's not enough. We gotta continue. We won two series here at home. For some people, it doesn't feel great. For us, it does. Now, we go to New York and try to play good baseball there."

Here are more notes from Wednesday's Orioles-Red Sox game:

-- Red Sox rookie Ceddanne Rafaela drove in his 70th run of the season, extending his lead among American League rookies.

-- Pivetta tossed six innings and allowed two earned runs or less for the third consecutive start for the Red Sox.

-- Despite finishing the season series with a losing record against the Orioles, Boston is 4-2 in its last six games with Baltimore and won each of the last two series against the American League East rival.

-- O'Neill launched his second-career walk-off home run for his fifth career walk-off hit and his second this season.

-- The victory ensured the Red Sox stayed four games behind the Minnesota Twins, who defeated the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday, for the final American League playoff spot.

-- The Red Sox hit the road, beginning with a four-game series in New York against the Yankees on Thursday night. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET. The game will air on FOX.