Boston Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman reacts after missing a hit against the Athletics in the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Boston Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman reacts after missing a hit against the Athletics in the first inning of a baseball game, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
BOSTON (AP) 鈥 The AL playoff race is getting tighter for the Boston Red Sox.
The Red Sox lost 5-3 to the Athletics on Thursday, dropping the three-game series to the noncontending A鈥檚 and allowing the Cleveland Guardians to crawl within 1 1/2 games of Boston in the AL wild-card race.
The Red Sox are still in position for the third and final AL wild-card berth, but they fell 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the race for home-field advantage in the first round.
鈥淲e control our own destiny,鈥 manager Alex Cora said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to play better baseball. That鈥檚 it. There were signs today, but we鈥檙e not there yet.鈥
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Boston has lost five of its last seven games to turn what had been a good shot at edging the Yankees into a chance of missing out completely. Cora noted that in 2021, their last playoff appearance, the Red Sox had to rally at the end of the season.
What did he learn from that season?
鈥淒on鈥檛 get too high. Don鈥檛 get too low,鈥 Cora said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 162 (games) for a reason.鈥
The Red Sox head to Tampa Bay for three games before three more in Toronto. They finish the season with a three-game series against the Tigers at Fenway Park.
Cora insisted that there is no panic in the Boston clubhouse. On Saturday, he raised eyebrows when he responded to questions about postseason lineup construction by saying: 鈥淚 think we should stop talking about October, to be honest with you.鈥
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of stuff going on and we have to play better,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not saying we鈥檙e in a bad spot. But we have to wait to see if October is part of this.鈥
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