Poll: When will be next time the Pats or Sox win in the playoffs?
For the second straight summer, the Toronto Blue Jays brought a sea of blue to Fenway Park and stole the soul of the Boston Red Sox.
Last year, it was the first series after the All-Star break, when the Jays pummeled the Sox 40-10 over three games to send Boston into a second half tailspin that saw the team finish under .500.
This year, a sweep at the hands of the Blue Jays over the first weekend in August will likely serve as the official time on the Red Sox death certificate in 2023.
Not only did it drop Boston back to the basement of the AL East, they're now five games behind Toronto for the league's 3rd Wild Card while also looking up at the Yankees and Mariners in the standings.
If that's not bad enough, the on-field struggles, which included blunders in the field and handing away a game on the basepaths, was blended with contentious times in the clubhouse. Alex Verdugo showed up late prior to Saturday's game, got into it with Alex Cora and got benched for a second time this year. You can see why Cora called Saturday "one of his worst days" with the Red Sox.
Boston is left with just an 11.1% chance of making the postseason this year, according to FanGraphs.
Not that it was ever too likely, but had the Sox swept the Jays, they would be sitting in a playoff spot today. With the postseason a long shot in 2023, when will be the next time the Sox win a playoff series?
Will it be before the Patriots, who are hoping to end their own four year playoff win drought this season? Las Vegas projects the Patriots at just 7.5 wins heading into the season, so it could be a little bit before either team gets the chance.
For the two franchises that combined for 10 world championships and 20 conference championship games/series appearances over a 20-year period, how long will it be before one of them tastes playoff glory again?