Red Sox eliminated from playoff race after loss to Blue Jays

“We never made it,” lamented manager Alex Cora. ​​”At one point it felt like we were a team with playoff qualities and then we missed the chance. Let's put it this way. You look around, you see the teams that [still] “We fought, we had it right there and we messed it up.”

The team has delayed the seemingly inevitable outcome longer than anyone could have expected. After trailing by five games out of the third wild-card spot with eight games to go on Friday, the Sox have reeled off four straight wins to close the gap.

“We were very confident that we could win and push ourselves to the limit,” said outfielder Jarren Duran.

Still, there was no room for error, and on Wednesday, Kevin Gausman and the Jays bullpen stopped the team. Gausman didn't allow a run until the sixth inning, by which point he already had a comfortable lead.

Although Richard Fitts (0-1, 1.74 ERA) opened the game with three scoreless innings, extending his streak of consecutive innings without an earned run to 18⅔ – the longest such streak by a Red Sox pitcher early in his major league career – he faltered in the middle innings.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Alejandro Kirk hit back-to-back doubles in the fourth inning to put the Blue Jays on the scoreboard. Kirk finally scored with an RBI single to put them up 2-0. One inning later, Kirk's two-out, two-strike, two-run single down the right field line put the Jays up 4-0.

After the Sox rallied for a run in the sixth inning, Toronto tied the game with Jonatan Clase's two-run home run in the seventh inning against Sox relief pitcher Josh Winckowski. With two outs in the ninth inning, Vaughn Grissom took a third strike from relief pitcher Chad Green. Wait until next year?

“It's a good building block for next year,” Duran said. “I'm always hungry for the next step. But what we have in this clubhouse is special. And I know there are a lot of people who don't see that, but I look behind the scenes and I'm really happy with where we are and what we're going to accomplish.”

Cora pointed to the progress made by several core players and the experience gained by several young players as reasons to believe the team is ready to take another step forward in 2025.

“Nobody expected us to play [meaningful games] “So far,” he said. “Our goal was to make the playoffs. We didn't get there, but it's a good learning experience for the kids.”

Still, Wednesday was not the time for boasting about the future or giving speeches to the players.

“It's too early for that,” said Cora. ​​”It's not necessary at the moment.”

Instead, it was a moment of feeling the emptiness of unfulfilled ambitions.

“It’s very quiet,” Cora noted of the Sox clubhouse, “which is good.”

Alex Speier can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @alexspeier.