The Boston Red Sox finished their first sweep of the 2026 season on Wednesday and welcomed starting pitcher Sonny Gray back from the injured list in the victory.
Boston enters Thursday’s contest vs. the Tampa Bay Rays at 16-21, but only 1.5 games behind the Detroit Tigers (who just lost ace Tarik Skubal to injury) for the final AL wild-card berth.
Is it too late for the Red Sox to turn things around and make the playoffs for the second year in a row?
Bleacher Report MLB writer Kerry Miller doesn’t think so.
“In the woebegone American League, the Red Sox are just 1.5 games back from a wild card spot, and seem to have already turned a corner,” Miller said. “Caleb Durbin and Marcelo Mayer are no longer black holes in the lineup, batting .283 over the last 10 games compared to .181 during the team’s 9-17 start. Jarren Duran is still battling some horrific BABIP luck, but has three homers in his past five games to make up for it. Meanwhile, the unspeakable power of Payton Tolle’s mustache seems to have ignited the portion of this pitching staff that isn’t on the IL.”
Boston hosts Tampa Bay at 7:10 p.m. ET on Thursday in the first of a four-game set.
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