Poll: Sweeping Yanks enough to get you believing in Underdog Sox?
For just the 10th time ever, the Boston Red Sox went into Yankee Stadium and left with a 3-game sweep, while never trailing in a series in the Bronx for the first time since April 2004.
It was a nice reminder that no matter how frustrating this rollercoaster of a season has been for the Sox, it could be worse, they could be the Yankees...
Boston is now 7-1 vs. the Pinstripes this season with a run differential of +30. They've even gained a bit of a cushion, six games to be exact, in the race for the AL East basement.
The problem for the Sox? They haven't gained too much ground where it actually counts. Despite winning all three contests over the weekend, Boston got only slightly closer to Toronto (gained a half-game) and made up no ground on the Mariners, who have been on an absolute tear and now own the AL's 3rd Wild Card.
Per FanGraphs, Boston has just a 15.8% chance of making the playoffs, a number that was in the single digits entering the series in the Bronx (9.8%).
That being said, for the second time this month the Red Sox open a series tonight in Houston where, should they win all four games (I know, not an easy ask) they could hold one of those wild card spots as they trail the Astros by just three games in the loss column and 3.5 games overall.
Was a weekend of good vibes and Alex Cora wearing an Underdog shirt to his postgame press conference after being showered in beer yesterday enough to get you thinking about October baseball with this team? Or is this just the latest incline on the 162-game rollercoaster?