The Red Sox punched their playoff ticket in wild fashion with a 4-3 win over the Tigers on Friday.
With the game tied at 3-3 in the bottom ninth and a runner on first for Boston, centerfielder Ceddanne Rafaela hit a walk-off triple that ultimately gave the Red Sox the win — and their first postseason berth since 2021.
When asked about what was going through his mind during the crucial at-bat, Rafaela said he knew he was going to win the game for Boston.
“I’m gonna finish it right there,” Rafaela said on the Apple TV+ broadcast after the win.
Now boasting an 88-72 record, the Red Sox hold the second American League wild-card spot and sit two games ahead of the Tigers, who sit in the third spot.
“We didn’t come here to play 162, we came here to win the World Series,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said to his team in the locker room before a champagne-spraying celebration.
After Friday’s loss, the Tigers have just a 1/2 game lead over the Astros for the final playoff spot, as they continue to slide in the final weeks of the regular season.
Since July, Detroit has blown a 15 1/2-game lead to the Guardians in the AL Central. It would become the largest collapse in MLB history if Detroit can’t recapture the division in the last two games, according to ESPN.
“It’s painful,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said after Wednesday’s 5-1 loss to the Guardians. “I’m having a hard time coming up with words, and I know that’s not the norm. But what I’m seeing out of our team is not normal. But it’s our reality.”
The Tigers are 1-9 in their last 10. Cleveland is continuing its surge with a 7-3 record over the same stretch.