The Boston Red Sox are not a lock to make the playoffs, but their path to October baseball is not an overly difficult one.
Boston entered Saturday afternoon's matchup against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park with a three-game win streak. As a result, the Sox lead the Oakland Athletics by three games for the second wild card playoff spot in the American League.
It's not a huge margin, but when you look at the remaining strength of schedule for the teams in the wild chase chase, the Red Sox have one of the easiest roads.
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Here are the numbers, via BostonSportsInf:
Nine of the Red Sox' last 14 games are against two last place teams -- the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals. Six of those matchups are with the Orioles. Boston owns a 9-4 record against Baltimore and have lost just once in the last 10 meetings.
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Boston Red Sox
The Red Sox do have some difficult games remaining, including a three-game series against both the first-place Tampa Bay Rays and the rival New York Yankees. Each of these series will be played at Fenway Park, though.
Reaching the postseason for the first time since 2018 won't be an easy task for the Red Sox, but they do have an easier road than several of the other teams chasing them in the wild card race. It's not an insignificant advantage.