The Boston Red Sox became Major League Baseball’s latest team to clinch a playoff berth and did so in dramatic fashion on Friday night. They trailed the Detroit Tigers, 3-1, through six innings, but then scored a run in the seventh and another in the eighth to tie it up heading to the ninth inning. And then Ceddanne Rafaela hit a playoff-clinching walk-off triple that scored Romy Gonzalez from first base to give Boston a 4-3 win.
In turn, the Red Sox will be making their first trip to the postseason since 2021, when they lost to the Houston Astros in the American League Championship Series.
Boston can credit its success to a few key contributors in particular. Southpaw Garrett Crochet, acquired from the Chicago White Sox last offseason, had a year that could earn him a second-place finish in AL Cy Young Award voting. Homegrown outfielders Rafaela and Jarren Duran ranked second and third on Boston’s roster in Wins Above Replacement — to think that’s without touching on injured rookie sensation Roman Anthony. On the infield, shortstop Trevor Story authored an impressive bounce-back season while third baseman Alex Bregman demonstrated why the Red Sox were thrilled to sign him over the winter.
It was Bregman’s signing, of course, that directly led to the Rafael Devers drama and subsequent trade earlier this summer. CBS Sports recently detailed how both sides, the Red Sox and the San Francisco Giants, had benefitted from that swap. The Red Sox were only 36-36 when they made the deal, having since vindicated top executive Craig Breslow’s prediction that his team would perform better after the trade was completed.
The Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees, and Seattle Mariners are the other AL squads to punch their tickets to the tournament. That leaves two more spots open on the Junior Circuit’s side of the bracket: the AL Central winner and the other wild card representative. That also makes Boston the third AL East team to secure a spot in October.
The Red Sox will wrap up their regular season this weekend with two more home games against one of the teams vying for that AL Central crown: the Detroit Tigers.