The Boston Red Sox have had quite a few bad games lately, which helped the Baltimore Orioles move up from last place in the AL East standings.
Over the past few years, the Baltimore Orioles have gotten comfortable coming in last place in the AL East standings. They’ve finished last every season since 2017, aside from 2020, when they finished second-to-last.
This season, however, may be different. Baltimore was caught in the last-place spot for a while, but the Boston Red Sox have done so poorly the past few series that they’re now at the bottom of the standings.
Even though they went all the way to the AL Championship series in 2021, Boston has been on a downward spiral this season, while Baltimore is likely to finish above last place.
Orioles likely to finish the season above last place in AL East ahead of Red Sox
The Red Sox, if they continue down the path they’re on, are likely to finish last this season. They recently played their worst game since 1950 against the Toronto Blue Jays, which resulted in a 28-5 loss. That game resulted in the fifth-most runs scored in a game in MLB history.
The Red Sox also haven’t won a game series since sweeping the Cleveland Guardians at the end of June. Since then, they’ve been swept twice and have had several games where they lost with large margins.
The Orioles, on the other hand, have been winning and tying multiple game series in July. They swept the Los Angeles Angels and are two games away from sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays. Contrary to the Red Sox, the Orioles’ overall performance this summer is only getting better.
Despite this, Boston’s team still enjoys much higher playoff odds than the Baltimore’s. According to FanGraphs, the Red Sox have 27.8 percent playoff odds, and the Orioles have 3.1 percent. If these two AL East teams continue on the paths they’re currently on, these odds could easily change.