The Boston Red Sox aren't out of the wild card race in the American League, but if they're going to make the playoffs, they better get going.
Quickly.
The Red Sox lost for the eighth time in the last 12 games Monday night when the Houston Astros earned a 5-4 walk-off win thanks to a Yainer Diaz home run in the bottom of the ninth inning.
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It was a pretty crushing loss for the Red Sox when you consider where they are in the playoff race, the fact that the Astros committed four errors, and the fact that Boston held leads of 2-0 and 4-2.
The Red Sox, who own a 65-59 record, are now 4.5 games behind the Kansas City Royals for the third and final wild card playoff berth in the AL. The Royals defeated the Los Angeles Angels on Monday for their fifth straight win.
“I look at the standings all the time,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said after Monday's loss, per Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe. “I look at the scoreboard all the time. I know Kansas City won. I watch.”
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Boston's odds of reaching the playoffs have dropped to 29.3 percent as of Tuesday morning, per FanGraphs. Those odds were 53 percent exiting the All-Star break in the middle of July. But post-All Star break the Red Sox have a lackluster 12-17 record.
They are on pace to finish August with a losing record for the fifth straight year.
The Red Sox have two more games against the Astros in Houston before finishing August with three games versus the Arizona Diamondbacks (at home), four games versus the Toronto Blue Jays (at home) and three games against the Detroit Tigers (on the road).
Boston's remaining schedule is the 15th-hardest in the MLB, per Tankathon.
The Red Sox still have enough time to make up ground in the playoff race and catch the Royals, but if a turnaround is going to happen, it needs to start ASAP, especially with how well Kansas City is playing right now.