The Red Sox won their seventh straight game on Sunday, sweeping a three-game series from the Guardians.
Boston has a 19-4 record this month – and yet they have gained only 0.5 games in the standings. Which is, frankly, astounding, that a team can play at a 134-win pace for nearly one month and do no better than tread water in the standings.
Morning of June 1: Red Sox: 23-27, 11.5 GB
Morning of June 27: Red Sox: 42-31, 11.0 GB
Also:
On The Morning Of May 9
MFY 19- 8 ----
TBR 18-11 2.0
TOR 17-13 3.5
BAL 11-17 8.5
BOS 10-19 10.0
From May 9 To June 26
MFY 34-12 ----
BOS 32-12 1.0
TOR 23-19 9.0
TBR 22-21 10.5
BAL 23-23 11.0
The Yankees and Red Sox have the two best records in MLB since May 9, easily. The Red Sox have, importantly, moved up from fifth to second place in the AL East. As far as catching the Yankees, though, they are actually worse off despite going 32-12, because they are only 0.5 games closer but have 44 fewer games remaining. It's a great example of how a bad start can screw a team up for the entire year, at least as far as winning its division.
From May 9 To June 26, Teams Playing .600+
MFY 34-12 .739
BOS 32-12 .727
ATL 28-16 .636
HOU 27-16 .628
NYM 27-17 .614
I'd love for the Yankees to hit a three-week rough patch, so the Red Sox could make up a bit of ground, especially since the two teams will play each other seven times before the All-Star Break. But I also don't expect Boston to keep winning at a .727 clip all summer.
Alex Cora knows the most important thing is to simply get his team into the postseason.
If we keep doing what we're doing, we'll be fine at the end of the year. Your record doesn't matter once you get to the playoffs. . . . I've said all along, we got ourselves in a deep hole. Now we're in a better position. But we still have to keep fighting.
Of course, your record does matter as far as where you sit in the postseason hierarchy. Under the new arrangement, the two division winners with the best winning percentages get a bye into the Division Series. The remaining division winner hosts the third wild card team in a best-of-three series and the first wild card team will host the second wild card team in another best-of-three.
But Cora's overall point stands. You can't win a pennant or A Piece Of Metal™ without making the postseason cut. Right now, the Red Sox hold the first wild card spot, 1.5 GA of the Rays and Blue Jays.
The Red Sox are in Toronto for three games starting Monday before playing three games against the Cubs in Chicago.
One week from today, they will play 14 consecutive games against only the Rays and Yankees, over a two-week stretch with no days off
July 4- 6: Rays at Red Sox (3 games)
July 7-10: MFY at Red Sox (4 games)
July 11-14: Red Sox at Rays (4 games)
July 15-17: Red Sox at MFY (3 games)
2 comments:
Think I heard on the Radio The Sox went about 20-5 in June 1900 or 01 ? and like 19-6 in June 1995 ? They were supposedly their 2 Best Records in June ? But I was thinking what about All Time Best Months ? Must be pretty close IF they win 2 or 3 in Toronto ?
The two-week stretch against New York and Tampa next month will be a true test of this team's mettle. I don't see Boston going 14-0, but taking five-of-seven from Tampa and four-of-seven from New York (a .643 winning percentage) would be ideal. First, let's take care of business versus Toronto, who is still a serious contender, and the Cubs.
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