The Sox need to make up some ground. Now.
The Red Sox have been worse at Fenway than on the road all season long. But just how much worse are we talking about? Well, over the last 30 years of Major League Baseball, only five teams have had a bigger delta between their winning percentage at home and their winning percentage everywhere else. But what’s the underlying cause of the underperformance? (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)
But something good did happen at Fenway this weekend: Rafael Devers hit his 200th career home run. He became the youngest Red Sox player in history to reach that milestone, and just the 31st player ever to hit 200 dongs at age 27 or younger. (Julian Benbow, Boston Globe)
Of course Raffy probably would’ve taken a couple of wins against the Diamondbacks over the homer. What can the Sox learn about returning to competitiveness from the defending NL champs? (Rob Bradford, WEEI)
If the Sox are going to keep their dwindling postseason hopes alive any longer, they’re going to need to start winning games at Fenway, starting this week with the five-game set against the Blue Jays. Unfortunately, we don’t yet know who is starting games two and three of the series, which is particularly concerning in light of the fact that game two is today. Will we see Quinn Priester or Richard Fitts? (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
Regardless of who pitches, something cool will happen today: Danny Jansen — who was a Blue Jay in June, when the teams began the suspended game that they will resume this afternoon — will become the first Major League player in history to appear in the same game for two different teams. (Jen McCaffrey, Kaitlyn McGrath, The Athletic)
But the Jansen thing is ultimately just a historical oddity. When it comes to the postseason race, Monday is more important for something else: both the Sox and the Kansas City Royals will be playing doubleheaders. In other words, today is hugely important for the Wild Card. (Tim Crowley, NESN)