The final day of the regular season is here and Red Sox and Royals fans are equal parts excited and apprehensive as their teams look to secure post-season baseball.
In Atlanta the game started with a bang, as the Royals scored three in the top half of the inning, only for the Braves to counter with a four-run inning of their own to take the lead. Meanwhile, all was quite in Boston, a scoreless first inning putting the Red Sox on top in the postseason race.
The second inning saw the Royals score once to tie the game at 4-4, but the Red Sox scored twice to take the lead in their game and retain the advantage.
It was blanks across the country in the third inning before the Rays shocked the Red Sox in the top of the 4th, scoring three runs to take the lead 3-2. In Atlanta, this put the Royals in the box seat for the first time with the score still tied at 4.
The 5th inning was a good one for the home teams; after the Rays extend their lead with a run, Boston scores two to tie the game at 4-4; meanwhile in Atlanta a pair of runs give the Braves a 6-4 lead and it is back to advantage Boston.
None of the four teams were able to trouble the scorers in the 6th and the same was true in Boston for the 7th. However, the Royals weren’t ready to go out without a fight and took the lead, 7-6, scoring three runs. In the bottom of the 7th, however, Atlanta took the lead straight back, two runs leaving them ahead 8-7 and the Red Sox dreaming of the post season.
The top of the 8th and the pressure was cranked up. It was too much for the Red Sox, who gave up three runs to fall behind 7-4 and, despite one run in the bottom of the inning, they would enter the 9th two runs behind 7-5. Down in Georgia, the Royals managed to tie the game up, one run enough to level the score at 8-8. When Atlanta couldn’t respond it was the Royals for only the second point in the game who were on course for the postseason if they could outscore the Braves in the 9th.
The Rays kept the hammer down in the top of the 9th, another three runs giving them a 10-5 advantage heading into the final half inning of the season and leaving Boston needing something special to keep the postseason in their own hands. This became even more important when the Royals scored in the top of the 9th to take a 9-8 lead and leave themselves six outs (three in Boston, three in Atlanta) from a fifth successive trip to the playoffs.
Neither the Red Sox nor the Braves were able to trouble the scorers in the 9th, leaving the Royals to take the final spot in the playoffs.
It was a tight race with the Royals eventually securing the final spot with a 85-77 record, only two games back from the Yankees and the Rangers. Over in the National League, it was the Padres (91-71), the Brewers (84-78), and the Cardinal (84-78) moving on.
