Roman Anthony's big game puts Red Sox on precipice of clinching playoff bid

Mac Cerullo, Boston Herald on Sep 18, 2026

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Back in late June when the Red Sox sunk to their lowest depths, the idea that the club might still have a shot at reaching the postseason would have seemed hopelessly optimistic.

Yet here they are with a little over a week left to play, and the Red Sox have all but punched their ticket to the playoffs.

With their 4-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Friday’s series opener, the Red Sox can now clinch a playoff spot as soon as Saturday. The club’s magic number, which stood at three entering the night, will drop to either one or two depending on the outcome of Friday’s late game between the Rangers and Blue Jays.

A Rangers win would mean the Red Sox could clinch with a win on Saturday, while a Blue Jays win would necessitate a win and a Blue Jays loss.

Following a string of poor offensive performances, Friday got off to a much stronger start at the plate. Roman Anthony put the Red Sox right in front with a solo home run to lead off the game, and after the Rays tied it up in the bottom half of the first, Anthony delivered again in the second with a go-ahead two-run single with the bases loaded off Rays starter Ian Seymour.

Anthony finished 2 for 4 with three RBIs, and the Red Sox never looked back.

Anthony’s first-inning blast was smoked. Measured at 107.7 mph off the bat and traveling 438 feet, the solo home run to right field narrowly missed landing in Tropicana Field’s ray tank.

His two-run single in the second inning was hit even harder, coming off the bat at 108.7 mph. Anthony came through after Trevor Story and Caleb Durbin led off the inning with singles, Isiah Kiner-Falefa moved them into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt and Nate Eaton walked to load the bases.

It was doubly encouraging given Anthony’s recent struggles at the plate. After a hot start coming off the injured list the outfielder came into Friday batting just .137 with one extra base hit over his past 12 games.

Jahmai Jones capped off the early offense with a solo shot to lead off the top of the third.

Tampa Bay scored its early run in the first after Yandy Diaz drew a leadoff walk, advanced to third on a Jonathan Aranda double and scored on a Junior Caminero groundout. But that was all the damage the Rays could do against Ranger Suarez, who allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings while falling one out short of his third consecutive quality start.

Suarez was uncharacteristically wild, walking five batters, but he limited the damage by allowing just three hits while striking out five.

The walks almost cost the Red Sox in the sixth inning.

Still leading by three, Suarez issued his fifth and final walk to lead off the sixth before recording two quick outs to finish his outing. But Wyatt Olds came on and immediately walked the first two men he faced, loading the bases and bringing the go-ahead run to the plate.

A brief mound visit followed, and Olds was able to dig deep and strike out pinch hitter Jake Fraley to escape the inning unscathed.

Walks put the Red Sox in one more jam in the bottom of the ninth inning.

With Aroldis Chapman unavailable with a lat issue and Garrett Whitlock having pitched on Thursday, Erik Miller took the mound in the ninth and walked three men. He allowed a run to score on a Victor Mesa Jr. groundout, and the third walk to Caminero brought the winning run to the plate with two outs.

Miller struck out Ryan Vilade, but the ball got away from Connor Wong and the Rays batter reached safely to extend the game and load the bases. But Miller fought back and drew a game-ending groundout from Chandler Simpson, leaving the Rays 0 for 13 with runners in scoring position with 12 men left on base in spite of the nine walks issued by the Red Sox pitching staff.

The win marked Boston’s first at Tropicana Field this season, and the club hopes plenty more will follow in the days and weeks to come. The Rays have long been in the driver’s seat for the AL East title, and barring a complete collapse over the final week Tampa Bay should soon lock down the American League’s top seed and a bye to the divisional round.

That means if the Red Sox (84-70) can get past the Yankees in the AL wild-card series, they’d be headed right back to St. Petersburg to face the Rays in a rematch of the 2021 ALDS.

But first, the Red Sox hope to pop some bottles in the Tropicana Field visitor’s clubhouse before they fly back to Boston. First pitch on Saturday is scheduled for 4:10 p.m.