The Yankees are far from the Red Sox’s only problem.
After getting swept by the Yankees, Boston set its sights on a far easier opponent on Monday. However, the Red Sox saw their grip on the second wild-card spot loosen with a 4-2 loss to the Orioles.
“That f–king sucked,” starting pitcher Chris Sale told reporters after the game. “Any game we lose, it f–king sucks. Any game we win, we’re one step closer.
“We’ve been getting drug through the mud the last four games. We gotta find something, man. These games, they’re not making any more of them. And we’re getting to the end.”
The Red Sox’s loss, combined with the streaking Mariners’ 4-2 win over the A’s, brought Seattle to within a 1/2 game of Boston for the second wild-card spot. The Yankees are two games clear of the Red Sox after their win over the Blue Jays, who are one game back of the Red Sox in the tightly-packed standings.
“We know where we’re at. We know what we’re up against. It’s not even really us versus anybody,” Sale said. “It’s us versus us. We’ve gotta win games, and the more we can get back to that, the better off we’re going to be.”
Sale coasted through five innings, but in the sixth, Kelvin Gutiérrez beat out an infield hit and Ryan Mountcastle went deep to tie the game.
“He was throwing me a lot of those changeups, and that one he left over the plate,” said Mountcastle, who struck out his first two at-bats.
Austin Hays followed with a single to end Sale’s night before Pedro Severino delivered an RBI single off Hansel Robles.
Sale gave up three runs and four hits, struck out six and walked two in his eighth start following Tommy John surgery. The lefty returned in August with a win over Baltimore and backed that up by beating the Orioles again on Sept. 17.
The Red Sox have two more games in Baltimore before finishing their season down the Beltway at the Nationals.
— With AP
