And Then There Was One

That’s right. Only one win stands in the way of the Red Sox clinching a division title. Forget how crazy that sounds coming after last year. The Sox haven’t clinched a division title since 2007. They’ve only won the division outright once since 1995.

This is crazy.

But, here they sit. Ready to accomplish it one year after finishing in last place. It’s mind boggling.

And the best part? They don’t look ready to stop. They’re looking at the best record in the American League. With the new playoff format, that’s actually a significant advantage. With a 2.5 game lead with eight to play, that’s only going to get easier. At some point the A’s and Tigers have to decide it’s not worth chasing a pipe dream and turn their attention to getting ready for the playoffs. I mean, if the choice for the Tigers is to rest Cabrera, or hope to make up three games while the Sox are facing Toronto and Colorado, which would you choose?

Which is good, since the Sox have some setting up for the playoffs of their own to do. Ellsbury could use a game or two to get back into the swing of things. Victorino could take every other day or so off. It would be nice if the starting pitchers could back off a little bit.

So, it will be nice if the Sox can take care of things as quick as possible. I’m not holding any fears that the Sox will lose the rest of their games. Nor do I imagine that if they did, the Rays would lose all of theirs. It’s not for any of those fears that I want them to end this now.