Following a 13-7 record so far through June, the Boston Red Sox have leapfrogged the Kansas City Royals for the third wild card spot. It’s been an unprecedented run for a team that had been so average to start the season. Fueled by some hot young bats and great pitching, the Sox have announced their presence in the AL.
Jarren Duran is hitting .396 on the month and has absolutely entered the conversation for an all-star appearance. Tyler O’Neill continues to crank homers (15) while bringing his average up to .261 after a great month. And David Hamilton has emerged as a necessary option every day; his 21 stolen bases are 4th in the MLB.
All of this while Tanner Houck keeps up his 2.18 ERA which is 2nd in the MLB. Brennan Bernardino, Zack Kelly, and Kenley Jansen have started to tighten up as the cleanup crew out of the bullpen. Suddenly, Boston has found their identity as a power-speed lineup with great pitching.
As I wrote about previously, this Red Sox team seemed destined to stay in the middle following a 2-2 split against the White Sox. With two series facing the Phillies and Yankees on the horizon, I thought the Sox season was about to fold. And after a 1-4 loss in game one to the Phills it looked all but certain. Down 0-4 in game two they were on the verge of yet another disappointing series loss.
But then something clicked, and the Red Sox did something they hadn’t done all year- they had their largest comeback of the season. A five run fifth then a two run sixth led to an 8-6 victory. Then they came out swinging with two four run innings in the finale to win the series. The subsequent series against the Yankees the same thing happened, they dropped the opener before winning the last two. Just like that the Sox won two series against the best records in both the AL and NL.
Then it was off to Toronto where the Sox didn’t take their foot off the gas, sweeping the series. The Red Sox started to emerge as a real threat for the third wild card spot. With the Royals going through their worst stretch of the season, Boston then took two out of three from the Reds in Cincinatti to claim sole possession of the wild card.
After signing Bobby Witt to a massive extension and making other solid additions, it looks like the Royals are actually going for some sort of success this year. And after a hot streak early on they have now hit a massive roadblock going 7-13 this month. The early run did feel a little ahead of schedule for their core- this spot seems more correct.
But as for the Red Sox, they hope to continue what has been a season-reviving run in upcoming series against the Blue Jays (again) and Padres, before they go off to Miami for the 4th of July.
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