The American League playoff picture will be in full focus as the Boston Red Sox host the Detroit Tigers in a regular season-ending, three-game series beginning on Friday night.
The teams holding the final two wild-card spots had opposite Thursday results, with the Red Sox (87-72) missing an opportunity to officially clinch their first postseason berth in three years via a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays, losing 6-1 in the series finale. Their magic number is still one; a win or a Houston Astros loss to the Los Angeles Angels would do the trick.
"Just one of those nights (on Thursday)," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. "We've put ourselves in a good position, yet we know what we have to do and it's going to be at Fenway Park."
Detroit (86-73), meanwhile, snapped an eight-game skid with a 4-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians, leaving the two teams tied atop the Central entering the weekend after the Tigers had a double-digit lead in the division as recently as Sept. 3.
After winning their first two games in Toronto by a combined 11-2 score, the Red Sox were hitless until the seventh inning on Thursday. Jarren Duran doubled and scored the lone Red Sox run on a Trevor Story single.
Story is four RBI away from his first 100-RBI season since 2018 and just the second of his career.
On the mound, Kyle Harrison (1-1, 3.58 ERA) looks to continue making his case for October when he makes his third appearance and second start with Boston on Friday.
The 23-year-old southpaw, who was part of the Rafael Devers trade in June, pitched six innings of one-run ball last Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rays. Cora called it an "amazing" debut start with the club.
"His strike-throwing with the fastball is legit. And when he's around the zone, he's tough to hit," Cora added. "He was under control."
Prior to last weekend, Harrison had not pitched since a three-inning relief outing on Sept. 10 against the Athletics. He has never faced Detroit.
"I'm just glad they had the confidence in me, and I was glad that I was able to deliver in that moment," Harrison said.
The Red Sox are trusting Harrison in a key situation against Detroit, which scored five runs in its previous three games before tagging Cleveland lefty Parker Messick for three homers in four innings out of the gates on Thursday.
Solo shots by leadoff-hitting Jahmai Jones and Wenceel Perez made it 2-0 in the first, while Riley Greene added his team-leading 36th homer of the season in the fourth.
"Look, everybody needs to see a little positivity in the game," Detroit manager AJ Hinch said. "We're human. We feed off a ton of things, including the good things. Of course I think everyone took a collective breath and said, ‘Here we go.'"
A handful of relievers clinched the much-needed win behind rookie Troy Melton, who lasted 3 2/3 innings. Will Vest struck out the side in the ninth.
It was Tigers' first triumph since Sept. 14 and just their fifth in 20 September games.
"It felt like a weight was lifted off our shoulders and we're back on track," Melton said. "We know we're a good baseball team."
Despite the team's September struggles, Casey Mize (14-6, 3.91 ERA) has gone five innings and allowed no more than three runs in each of his four starts. The first two were wins.
Mize has a pair of eight-strikeout efforts this month and has 14 outings with five or more this season, which was his total across 5 2/3 Sunday innings against the Atlanta Braves.
"The opportunity's still in front of us, as bad as it's been," Mize said after his last start.
Mize, a 2025 AL All-Star, is 0-1 with a 4.29 ERA in four career starts against Boston.
--Field Level Media
