"The Red Sox have found themselves in a bit of a grind throughout September. They pulled out an essential, though ugly, win on Wednesday night against the Athletics. A win is a win, which is the story in September when you just need to survive and advance. The Red Sox players have dealt with a decent amount of adversity, e.g. their GM trading their franchise player in June in what amounted to a salary dump, promising to use that money to buy at the deadline,"
"The issue in September is that unusual things happen all around you. The teams that are forgotten can suddenly reappear. The squads that sold at the deadline because it wasn't their year? They still have to take the field, often with hidden gems that they didn't know would even contribute this year. Someone like Connelly Early. Other teams shut their pitchers and injury-ridden players down early. Seemingly easy games become tough, and vice versa."
"The Houston Astros, who have led the AL West for months, found themselves in second place on Wednesday behind a scorching-hot Mariners squad, and now are dealing with a Yordan Alvarez ankle injury to go with numerous others. The Los Angeles Dodgers, who liked like a contender to set the single-season wins record before the season, have virtually no chance of a first-round bye and will have to hold off the San Diego Padres in the final days just to avoid the fifth seed."
The Red Sox have endured a difficult September and scraped out an essential, ugly win over the Athletics. The club has faced multiple major setbacks: a midseason trade that functioned as a salary dump without the promised deadline reinforcements, season-ending injuries to Triston Casas and Marcelo Mayer, and the regular-season-ending loss of catalyst Roman Anthony. The starting rotation has been reduced to fringe options at #13 and #14 in the pecking order. September's unpredictability allows forgotten teams and deadline sellers with surprise contributors to reemerge while contenders like the Astros, Dodgers, and Mets navigate injuries and late-season slumps. The Diamondbacks also lost Corbin Burnes and their top two closers to season-ending injuries.
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