Here Comes One Wild, And Important, Road Trip For The Red Sox
BOSTON (CBS) -- It's "go time" for the Boston Red Sox.
After a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks at Fenway Park, which partially made up for dropping two of three to the Yankees to start the homestand, the Red Sox hit the road for a truly unique road trip that will have them changing hotels three times in the next four days (and including Sunday's game at Fenway, they'll play in four different ballparks in a five-day span). In all, it's an 11-game trip against four teams, three of which are in the thick of the AL playoff picture.
The Red Sox, who currently hold a 1.5 game lead for the second wild card spot in the American League, know this is a key portion of their schedule, and not just because of the frequent flyer miles they'll pick up. The team needs to simply keep winning, and even if the travel isn't ideal, they won't use it as an excuse.
"We've got an adjusted plan in place," manager John Farrell said of the trip. "The schedule has been there, maybe with the exception of the makeup day in Cleveland. That creates a quick turnaround, so we've adjusted some things with out own schedule to accommodate that change -- the change in cities, the change in venues, the change in lineups. The most important thing is we take care of the things we can control. We're not fretting about the scheduled. We've known since January this trip was coming, so we're looking forward to it."
The trip starts with a quick one-game visit to Cleveland for a Monday matinée against the Indians, a makeup game of a postponed April tilt that will have Drew Pomeranz (0-2, 5.26 ERA for Boston since being acquired from San Diego) going against Josh Tomlin (11-5, 4.18 ERA). Each pitcher goes against one of the best offenses in the majors, with Boston first in the AL at 5.51 runs per game while Cleveland is second at 5.11 runs per contest. Cleveland is the best team in the AL at 67-48 and have won four straight.
After their brief stay in Cleveland, Boston packs up and heads to Baltimore for two important games against the Orioles. The O's are 1.5 games ahead of Boston for the top wild card spot in the AL, with both teams chasing the Blue Jays in the division, who are half a game ahead of the Orioles and 1.5 games ahead of Boston. The Red Sox are 4-6 against the Orioles this season, but split their four-game visit to Camden Yards at the end of May.
Then it's back on the road again to pay the Detroit Tigers a visit, the team they hold that 1.5 game lead over for the second wild card spot. To make things a little more complicated, Thursday's series opener is a 1:10 p.m. start, after a 7:00 p.m. start against Baltimore on Wednesday night, another unique wrinkle to the trip's travel. It won't be an easy turnaround, but those are the cards the Red Sox have been dealt.
The four-game series in Motown is big for the standings and even bigger from a revenge standpoint, as the Tigers swept a three-game set in Boston just three weeks ago. The Tigers were scuffling heading into that series, but had few issues with a Boston team that had won six of nine coming out of the All-Star break. It was one of those frustrating series when the Red Sox were supposed to be the far superior team, but allowed their opponents to get the best of them. It's one of the main reasons they're in the middle of the pack in the playoff picture and not out in front.
The road swing closes with a four-game series in Florida against the lowly Tampa Bay Rays, a prime opportunity to pad the standings as they close a difficult trip. If the Red Sox can beat up on the Diamondbacks at home, they should be able to do the same to the Rays on the road.
The Red Sox know how important this tough stretch will be in the grand scheme of things if they want to be playing baseball after the first week of October. They know the focus shouldn't be on changing hotels, time zones or all the dirty laundry they'll pile up in their 11 days away from home. They need to just focus on winning ballgames, and separating themselves from a crowded AL playoff pack.
"You've just got to go play. You can't let those type of things affect you," Mookie Betts said after his three-homer game on Sunday. "We're playing against some division guys and somebody we're in a race with, so it's going to be tough. They're really good teams, but we're a good team too."
The Red Sox are just 12-15 against the teams they'll play during the trip, part of the reason they have very little wiggle room in the current playoff picture. Over the next 11 days they'll have a chance to pull away from that pack, one way or another, and how they fare will be a major part in whether or not they're back in the postseason for the first time since 2013.
