The Red Sox could avoid a Yankees Wild Card matchup only if a three-way 85-77 tie forms: Cleveland must beat Boston today, Boston lose out and Chicago win out. Chicago would take the AL Central, while Cleveland’s interdivision tiebreaker would leave Boston sixth.
The article says Chicago holds the tiebreaker over Cleveland for the AL Central, so the division tie would be settled first. A Cleveland win would even its season series with Boston at 3-3; the Guardians would then win the seeding tiebreaker on interdivision record and take No. 5, leaving Boston No. 6.
At the time of the article, Boston was 85-73, four games ahead of Chicago with four games left. The White Sox still had to win at Kansas City and sweep Colorado; Boston was likely to play a Friday doubleheader against the Cubs ahead of the approaching nor’easter.
