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The Boston Red Sox's win against the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday has kept them mathematically alive in the American League Wild Card race. With five games to go, they have a less than 1% chance of making it into the playoffs as they need several permutations and combinations to go their way.
Boston hasn't had the best second half. At the All-Star break, the Red Sox were 53-43 and holding the third Wild Card spot. Realistically, they had a shot at the AL East title.
At that stage, the Orioles were 5.0 games ahead in first place. However, they didn't muscle up at the trade deadline and slowly fell out of contention as the season wore on.
Currently, the Orioles hold the first Wild Card spot, so the fight for the two other tickets is between three AL Central teams: the Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins. The Seattle Mariners also have an outside chance.
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For the Red Sox to make it through, they will require help from all four of these teams. In an event where they win the five remaining games, they will need the Royals and Twins to win at least four and the Mariners to not win more than three games.
The Royals and Twins have a balanced schedule. Kansas City plays the lower-ranked Washington Nationals and NL wild-card conteder Atlanta Braves.
Meanwhile, Minnesota is off to play against the NL East's last-placed Miami Marlins and Orioles. The Mariners can hope to pull off three wins from their two remaining games against the Houston Astros and Oakland Athletics over the weekend.
Are the Red Sox in a position to win five straight?
Before the probabilities kick in, Alex Cora's side has to get five wins on the board. They are 5-5 in their last 10 games. While their pitchers have come to the fore with a solid 2.73 ERA over that stretch, their batting has been underwhelming with a .216 average.
Even if they can win the next two in Toronto, they will be up against the Tampa Bay Rays in their last three games. The Rays are in the same position as Boston, needing six wins and other results to go their way.
