BOSTON — The Red Sox arrived at Fenway Park with their bags packed Sunday morning. Their destination remains to be determined.
After clinching a postseason spot Friday night, the Red Sox know they’ll begin a best-of-three Wild Card Series on the road Tuesday. Their opponent remains up in the air. Boston will travel to either New York, Toronto or Cleveland, depending on how Sunday’s games shake out. The entire AL playoff field is set, with the Yankees, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Mariners, Guardians and Tigers making the postseason. But New York and Toronto, as well as Detroit and Cleveland, are still battling for their divisions. Seeding remains on the line.
If the Red Sox win Sunday against the Tigers, Boston will be the No. 5 seed in the American League and therefore face the runner-up in the AL East — either the Yankees or Blue Jays. Toronto will win the division with a win or a Yankees loss Sunday; the Yankees would need to win and have Toronto lose. In that case, a trip to Yankee Stadium remains most likely for the Red Sox.
If Boston loses to Detroit and the Guardians beat the Rangers, the Red Sox would then be the No. 6 seed in the AL. Cleveland would then be the AL Central winner and the Red Sox would travel there for the Wild Card Series.
Boston knows it’ll be on the road for the entire first round of the postseason and has its pitching lined up, too. Ace Garrett Crochet will pitch Game 1 with some combination of Brayan Bello and Lucas Giolito pitching Games 2 and 3. Giolito was going to start Sunday if anything remained in the balance for the Red Sox; instead, surprise Triple-A call-up José De León will get the start against Detroit and righty Chris Paddack.
All MLB games on Sunday will start between 3:05 and 3:20 p.m. ET, so the Red Sox should know where they’re headed at some point in the early evening. Boston will almost certainly have a workout at a road ballpark Monday, when every team in the league is off.