{"id":93934,"date":"2025-09-16T10:36:53","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T10:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=93934"},"modified":"2025-09-16T10:36:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T10:36:53","slug":"red-sox-rally-cry-alex-cora-snubs-yankees-triumph-for-epic-playoff-quest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=93934","title":{"rendered":"RED SOX RALLY CRY: Alex Cora Snubs Yankees Triumph for Epic Playoff Quest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Alex<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>
The Red Sox clinched a winning record with a victory over the Yankees on Sunday night. (AP Photo\/Jim Davis)AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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BOSTON \u2014 After one of his team\u2019s better victories of the second half Sunday night over the Yankees, Alex Cora made it clear that the goalposts for the Red Sox have changed compared to recent seasons.<\/p>\n

A 6-4 win in which Boston got out to a big lead with a hit parade in the first inning and rode a strong performance from ace Garrett Crochet to victory was Boston\u2019s 82nd of 2025, meaning the club will finish with a record over .500 for the first time since 2021. It also capped off a decisive season series with the Yankees, in which the Red Sox were 9-4. Those facts mattered little to Cora, who isn\u2019t willing to celebrate anything until the Red Sox officially clinch a playoff berth. That is very much within reach with two weeks left in the season. With 12 games to go, the Red Sox have a three-game advantage in the wild-card race over the Rangers, who are the first team on the outside looking in. A strong finish would set up a wild card berth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are where we are,\u201d said Cora, who deflected a series of questions about big-picture accomplishments after the game. \u201cWe have bigger goals than playing over .500. Our goal is to play in October.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything I care (about) is to play in October.\u201d<\/p>\n

After three straight losses (in Wednesday\u2019s series finale against the A\u2019s and in the first two games of the Yankees series), things had tightened for the Red Sox entering Sunday. They had just a two-game lead over Texas, a club surging in a crowded American League West mix. But the Rangers lost to the Mets while the Astros (who now have the third wild card spot) were defeated by the Braves. Boston\u2019s win, in which Crochet struck out 12 batters, put its lead back to three games over the Rangers and one game over Houston, which suddenly trails the Mariners, who have won nine straight to take over first place in the West.<\/p>\n

The job is not finished for the Sox, who face the Athletics, Rays, Blue Jays and Tigers before the regular season ends September 28. But FanGraphs lists Boston\u2019s playoff odds at 90.3% entering Monday, a day on which Boston is idle and the Rangers and Astros face each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you told me in Fort Myers we\u2019re in a playoff spot… with two weeks left, I\u2019d take it,\u201d acknowledged Cora. \u201cI know a lot of people here would take it, too. We\u2019re not perfect, like I\u2019ve always said, but we\u2019re a good baseball team, so we\u2019ll be ready for Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019ll be an uphill climb for the Red Sox to close a 5 \u00bd game behind Toronto and challenge for the division title in the coming days, but the battle for the first wild card spot \u2014 and home field advantage for all games in a best-of-three wild card series \u2014 is still in play. The Red Sox trail the Yankees by 1 \u00bd games in that race entering Tuesday despite the decisive results in the season series between the rivals. The standings, Cora said, are what really matters, though the season series win means the Sox would have the tiebreaker if the teams finish with the same record next Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that at the end of the day, it\u2019s where you finish,\u201d said Cora. \u201cWe\u2019ve played well against them. They beat us three games in a row. It is what it is. They have a great team. Playing better defense now, and more athletic, so we\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

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  • How Monday\u2019s results impacted playoff position for idle Red Sox<\/li>\n
  • MLB insider \u2018was surprised at how upset\u2019 he appeared in video of him knocking over photographer<\/li>\n
  • Red Sox prospect to make second start Tuesday after 11 K\u2019s in MLB debut<\/li>\n
  • Where Red Sox sit in American League playoff picture after beating Yankees<\/li>\n
  • Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet: \u2018I don\u2019t want to have any regret on my mind\u2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n

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    After one of his team\u2019s better victories of the second half Sunday night over the Yankees, Alex Cora made it clear that the goalposts for the Red Sox have changed compared to recent seasons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93935,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nRED SOX RALLY CRY: Alex Cora Snubs Yankees Triumph for Epic Playoff Quest - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=93934\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"RED SOX RALLY CRY: Alex Cora Snubs Yankees Triumph for Epic Playoff Quest - 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