The Boston Red Sox are running out of time to secure their spot in the 2024 postseason, but nobody on the roster is prepared to call it quits just yet
Good vibes remained in the air before the Red Sox opened up September with a 4-1 rubber-match defeat to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on Sunday, ending a three-game weekend trip. Boston went 13-15 in August and continued its streak of not recording a series sweep since the MLB All-Star break, however, outfielder Tyler O'Neill isn't lowering the bar of expectations for the final month of regular season baseball.
"There's still lots of baseball to play," O'Neill said Sunday, per MLB.com's Ian Browne. "We’ve got a lot of talent on this roster. Offensively, pitching, defense, we can make plays and drive runners in with the best of them. The course is right in front of us. It just depends if we take it or not and hopefully there’s a good streak for us this September."
Boston left Comerica Park to continue its six-game road trip sitting 4 1/2 back of the Minnesota Twins for the third and final American League wild card spot -- a feasible position, but one the Red Sox have sat stagnant in throughout the second half of the season. It'll likely require a red-hot run of some sort within the team's final 25 games of 2024, especially with fellow wild card hopefuls such as the Tigers and Seattle Mariners seated right behind Boston with a chance to seize a spot as well.
"A lot of people outside these walls, they didn't believe that (we could be in this position)," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said, per Browne. "We actually believed we could do more. We know where we’re going to be Sept. 1. Now we go. We’ve got to play better baseball but it should be fun the rest of the way."
The Red Sox still await the return of relief pitcher Liam Hendriks and shortstop Trevor Story, which could provide a much-needed boost in both the bullpen and infield at the most pivotal point of the season.
