There will be October baseball in Beantown.
Needing a win to clinch a postseason berth, the Red Sox battled back from a 3-1 deficit on Friday night to walk off the Tigers 4-3 at Fenway Park. Ceddanne Rafaela played hero, mashing a triple off the wall in center field in the ninth to bring home Romy Gonzalez and punch Boston's ticket to the playoffs.
Four of the six playoff spots are decided in the American League now that the Blue Jays, Mariners, Yankees and Red Sox have all clinched. The two remaining playoff spots will be decided in the final two days of the regular season as the Tigers, Guardians and Astros jockey for position.
The Tigers, who held a 10.5-game lead in the AL Central at the beginning of September, could have clinched a playoff berth Friday night with a win combined with an Astros loss. The good news for Detroit? The Guardians also lost, falling 7-3 to the Rangers, as did Houston in a 4-3 loss to the Angels.
Despite the loss, Cleveland, which owns the tiebreaker over Detroit, still sits in first place in the AL Central with an 86-74 record. The Guardians can clinch a division title Saturday night with a win over the Rangers combined with a Tigers loss.
The Tigers and Guardians can both clinch a playoff spot Saturday night with a win or another loss by Houston to the Angels.
Elsewhere in the American League, the Mariners lost 3-2 to the Dodgers on Friday night. That means the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage in the playoffs belongs to the AL East champion—either the Blue Jays or Yankees, who remain tied with identical 92-68 records.
Here's how everything stands following the Red Sox' big win:
American League Playoff Picture
AL DIVISION LEADERS
AL WILD CARD
More MLB on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as How Red Sox' Win Over Tigers, Guardians' Loss Impacts AL Playoff Picture.
