The Boston Red Sox took care of their business yesterday in beating the Toronto Blue Jays to cut their magic number to 1. As I thought, the New York Yankees however refused to cooperate as they beat the Baltimore Orioles to keep their very slim playoff hopes alive.
All it takes now is one win by the local nine or a loss by the Yankees and the Red Sox are assured of a playoff spot. The Red Sox right now are guaranteed a one-game playoff for the wild card should that happen. There’s still a chance the Red Sox can win the division as they are now 1.5 games out of first place as the Rays lost. So don’t count the Red Sox out of the division race just yet.
Did anyone notice anything yesterday from Daisuke Matsuzaka? He didn’t nibble at all and actually attacked hitters. It’s hard to argue with his 18-2 record as is but can you imagine if he pitched like he did yesterday all season. Hopefully this is a preview of things to come for his last start, which I suspect will be for a few innings, and the playoffs. He’s also never reached 18 wins in a season in his career, including Japan, until yesterday.
“Since the moment I turned pro, I wanted to match the win total to the number on my jersey,” Matsuzaka said through his interpreter Masa Hoshino. “It took me 10 years but I finally got there. Now that I got there, it just feels like any other win.”
“I have had to hang in there and pitch patiently in certain spots (this season), and certainly the team has helped me in terms of getting the wins,” he said. “But so much of it is beyond my control.
“This year, my teammates have really been helping me out a lot and doing the best for me – and I think that’s why things are working out a lot more this year.”
It’s quite possible the Red Sox could change their rotation around this week or have the starters go less innings once the playoffs become official.
The Red Sox are emerging as the gold standard of the AL East.
The status of Mike Lowell, J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo is still unknown.
The Blue Jays Triple-A team will be located in Las Vegas next year as the Syracuse Chiefs didn’t want them anymore.
Jonathan Papelbon is in some select company now as he is the 5th Red Sox reliever to achieve a 40 save season.
New York loves them some Josh Beckett.
For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant and Providence Journal websites.
And if you must see what the enemy papers are saying, head over to the Toronto Sun, Toronto Star and Globe and Mail websites.
