The Red Sox and Cubs are trying to get ahead of the weather before it gets in the way of the regular-season finish.
Boston’s final home series of the year was already set for Friday, Sep. 25 through Sunday, Sep. 27 at Fenway Park, but a nor’easter is now forcing the teams to plan around a messy weekend in Boston. According to Tim Healey of The Boston Globe, the clubs are lining up a doubleheader for Friday, with Saturday now looking like the most likely spot for the series finale.
“Desperate to finish the regular season, the Red Sox and Cubs are planning to play a doubleheader Friday ahead of a possible nor’easter this weekend in Boston, a league source said,” Healey wrote. “If they can get those two games in, it would leave one additional game in the series. The thinking as of Wednesday afternoon was that their best chance would come Saturday, a source said.”
The timing matters because both teams are still sorting out playoff positioning. The Red Sox and Cubs are already headed to the postseason through the Wild Card, but neither club has fully locked down its spot yet.
Boston sits in the No. 2 Wild Card position in the American League, though the White Sox and the Cleveland Guardians still have a path to move up.
The Red Sox’s magic number to clinch that spot is three. Once Boston seals it, the final games stop carrying the same weight.
Chicago’s situation is tighter. The Cubs are in a three-way tie with the Philadelphia Phillies and the San Diego Padres, with all three teams sitting at 87-70.
Chicago holds the top Wild Card spot only because of the tiebreaker. That matters a lot: the No. 1 seed gets a home Wild Card series, while the No. 2 team goes on the road against the top seed.
The No. 3 team also has to travel, facing the NL East champion Atlanta Braves.
For the Cubs, then, these games are more than a formality. They could decide whether Chicago gets to stay home or pack for the road.
And the weather is no joke. Weather.com is calling for rainstorms across the weekend in Boston, along with wind gusts as high as 50 miles per hour - hardly ideal conditions for baseball, or for trying to squeeze in a season’s final games.
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