The Red Sox didn’t get the kind of help they wanted in Anaheim, but the playoff picture still keeps tilting Boston’s way.
Even after dropping two of three to the Los Angeles Angels, the Red Sox are still firmly on track for the No. 2 American League Wild Card spot. Boston is 80-67 and sitting four games behind the New York Yankees for the top Wild Card position with 15 games left in the regular season.
That gap looked a lot more manageable not long ago. The Red Sox had trimmed it to two games at one point, but the Angels series pushed it back to four.
Boston entered the matchup with a four-game winning streak, then stretched it to five by taking Game 1 on Monday. After that, though, the offense stalled in a 6-1 loss on Tuesday and a 6-4 defeat on Wednesday.
Even with the losses, Boston’s playoff magic number continued to shrink. It now sits at nine.
That number had already dropped to 12 after the Red Sox swept Baltimore in four games before heading into the Angels series. Since the magic number reflects both Boston wins and rival losses, it can move even when the Red Sox don’t.
There’s also a much-needed breather coming. Boston gets Thursday off, ending a stretch of 14 straight games without a day off. The Red Sox hadn’t had a rest since Aug. 27, and they’ve been dealing with injuries and a packed schedule while still finding ways to win most of the time.
Now they’ll have two off days in a five-day span, with another one following a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals. Boston plays six straight games against teams below .500 before a three-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays.
At this point, a playoff berth looks like a matter of when, not if. The bigger question is whether the Red Sox can still make any move in the standings. The Angels series didn’t help that cause, and Thursday gives them a chance to reset before the next stretch begins.
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