How Red Sox Can Clinch Playoff Spot Before Even Playing Today

The Red Sox would clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Blue Jays on Thursday — but they might not even have to wait that long.

Boston beat Toronto 7-1 on Wednesday. That victory, combined with the Athletics’ 6-0 win over the Astros, left Boston three games up on Houston in the American League Wild Card standings with four games remaining for both teams. However, the Red Sox hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Astros, so they really have a four-game advantage in the standings.

Boston’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot is down to one, meaning either a Red Sox win or an Astros loss over the final four games would push Alex Cora’s team into the postseason. And with Athletics and Astros playing their series finale Thursday at 3:35 p.m. ET, the Red Sox could punch their ticket before playing the Blue Jays in their series finale, which starts at 7:07.

With all that said, the AL playoff puzzle will be far from complete following Thursday’s games.

The Blue Jays, Yankees and Mariners are the only teams that clinched playoff spots ahead of Thursday’s action. Seattle already had clinched the American League West title, while New York and Toronto only had clinched wild-card spots. The Blue Jays and Yankees entered Thursday tied atop the American League East standings, with Toronto technically ahead because of the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Meanwhile, Boston, which will host the Tigers this weekend for each team’s three-game season finale, entered Thursday in control of the second wild-card spot and one game ahead of Detroit for the final wild-card slot. The Tigers, who trailed the Cleveland Guardians by one game in the AL Central, owned a one-game advantage over the Astros, who began the day outside the playoff picture.

Detroit also owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over Boston. So, there’s a world in which the Astros and Tigers make the playoffs over the Red Sox if Boston loses its final four games.

The Red Sox began Thursday three games back of Toronto and New York for both the top wild-card spot and first place in the AL East. Division winners and teams that finish first in wild-card standings get home-field advantage in Round 1 of the Major League Baseball playoffs.

It’s also worth noting that division winners with the two best records get first-round byes, something the Red Sox (87 wins) still technically can earn if the Blue Jays (90 wins), Yankees (90 wins) and Mariners (89 wins) all crater this weekend. Seattle owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Red Sox, however.

Got all that? Good. Play ball!