Thanks a three-game sweep at the hands of the Tampa Bay Rays over the weekend, the Red Sox have seen their lead in the AL East over the New York Yankees shrink to just six games.
Boston has gone 4-6 in the last 10 games, whereas New York has gone 8-2 over that same span. While not truly terrible, the stretch has been bad enough to have sports talk radio callers bringing up Boston’s historic collapse in ’78 that ended with the Yankees making the postseason over the Sox thanks to a Bucky Dent home run in a one-game playoff.
Overreaction right? Well….
Though it’s most likely the Red Sox will regain the form that has kept them atop RealClearLife‘s Ultimate Power Rankings for much of the season during upcoming games against the lowly Marlins and White Sox, there is a chance they’ll struggle as their pitching rotation is still slightly out of joint and impacted by injured staff ace Chris Sale.
And, if that happens, watch out. Following the six games total against the Marlins and White Sox, the Red Sox play three against the Braves and three against the Astros, both quality opponents.
Later in the month, the Sox play a similar six-game stretch against the Indians and Yankees on the road, and close out the season with another three-game set against New York in Boston.
Given the quality of those opponents, there’s still a chance, albeit a small one, the Red Sox could collapse. And if they do, it will be epic.
To see who might take their top spot in the unlikely event the Sox continue to play poorly check out this week’s edition of RealClearLife‘s Ultimate Power Rankings, which combine ratings from ESPN, CBS and USA Today to get a single rank for all 30 teams in MLB and use segmented tiers to arrange them.
Batter up.
The Best of the Best (1.00-5.00)
No. 1.00, last 1.00, two weeks ago 1.00: Boston Red Sox – (ESPN, 1), (CBS Sports, 1), (USA Today, 1)
No. 2.33, last 3.00, two weeks ago 2.33: Houston Astros – (ESPN, 2), (CBS Sports, 2), (USA Today, 3)
No. 2.66, last 2.66, two weeks ago 2.33: New York Yankees – (ESPN, 3), (CBS Sports, 3), (USA Today, 2)
No. 4.00, last 3.66, two weeks ago 4.66: Oakland Athletics – (ESPN, 4), (CBS Sports, 4), (USA Today, 4)
The Best of the Rest (5.01-10.00)
No. 5.33, last 6.00, two weeks ago 5.33: Chicago Cubs – (ESPN, 6), (CBS Sports, 5), (USA Today, 5)
No. 6.00, last 4.66, two weeks ago 5.00: Cleveland Indians – (ESPN, 5), (CBS Sports, 7), (USA Today, 6)
No. 7.66, last 9.00, two weeks ago 13.33: St. Louis Cardinals – (ESPN, 10), (CBS Sports, 6), (USA Today, 7)
No. 8.00, last 8.66, two weeks ago 8.33: Atlanta Braves – (ESPN, 8), (CBS Sports, 8), (USA Today, 8)
No. 8.66, last 9.66, two weeks ago 10.66: Arizona Diamondbacks – (ESPN, 7), (CBS Sports, 9), (USA Today, 10)
So You’re Saying There’s a Chance (10.01-15.00)
No. 11.00, last 9.33, two weeks ago 13.66: Colorado Rockies – (ESPN, 11), (CBS Sports, 10), (USA Today, 12)
No. 11.33, last 11.33, two weeks ago 11.00: Los Angeles Dodgers – (ESPN, 9), (CBS Sports, 12), (USA Today, 13)
No. 11.33, last 13.66, two weeks ago 9.66: Milwaukee Brewers – (ESPN, 12), (CBS Sports, 11), (USA Today, 11)
No. 12.66, last 11.66, two weeks ago 9.00: Seattle Mariners – (ESPN, 14), (CBS Sports, 15), (USA Today, 9)
No. 13.66, last 10.66, two weeks ago 9.00: Philadelphia Phillies – (ESPN, 13), (CBS Sports, 14), (USA Today, 14)
No. 14.33, last 15.66, two weeks ago 17.33: Tampa Bay Rays – (ESPN, 15), (CBS Sports, 13), (USA Today, 15)
Stuck in the Middle with You (15.01-20.00)
No. 16.33, last 16.66, two weeks ago 14.33: Washington Nationals – (ESPN, 16), (CBS Sports, 16), (USA Today, 17)
No. 17.33, last 17.00, two weeks ago 15.66: Pittsburgh Pirates – (ESPN, 18), (CBS Sports, 18), (USA Today, 16)
No. 18.33, last 16.66, two weeks ago 18.00: Los Angeles Angels – (ESPN, 17), (CBS Sports, 20), (USA Today, 18)
No. 18.33, last 19.33, two weeks ago 18.33: San Francisco Giants – (ESPN, 19), (CBS Sports, 17), (USA Today, 19)
It’s Probably Not Your Year (20.01-25.00)
No. 20.33, last 20.00, two weeks ago 20.33: Minnesota Twins – (ESPN, 20), (CBS Sports, 19), (USA Today, 22)
No. 21.00, last 22.33, two weeks ago 24.00: New York Mets – (ESPN, 21), (CBS Sports, 21), (USA Today, 21)
No. 21.33, last 23.66, two weeks ago 22.00: Toronto Blue Jays – (ESPN, 22), (CBS Sports, 22), (USA Today, 20)
No. 23.00, last 22.00, two weeks ago 22.00: Texas Rangers – (ESPN, 23), (CBS Sports, 23), (USA Today, 23)
No. 24.00, last 21.66, two weeks ago 22.00: Cincinnati Reds – (ESPN, 24), (CBS Sports, 24), (USA Today, 24)
See You in 2019 (25.01-30.00)
No. 25.66, last 25.33, two weeks ago 25.00: Detroit Tigers – (ESPN, 25), (CBS Sports, 27), (USA Today, 25)
No. 26.33, last 27.00, two weeks ago 28.00: Chicago White Sox – (ESPN, 26), (CBS Sports, 26), (USA Today, 27)
No. 26.33, last 27.33, two weeks ago 26.66: Miami Marlins – (ESPN, 28), (CBS Sports, 25), (USA Today, 26)
No. 27.66, last 26.33, two weeks ago 26.00: San Diego Padres – (ESPN, 27), (CBS Sports, 28), (USA Today, 28)
No. 29.33, last 29.33, two weeks ago 29.66: Kansas City Royals – (ESPN, 30), (CBS Sports, 29), (USA Today, 29)
No. 29.66, last 29.66, two weeks ago 29.33: Baltimore Orioles – (ESPN, 29), (CBS Sports, 30), (USA Today, 30)
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