When the Red Sox limped out of Yankee Stadium in the wee hours of July 2, licking the wounds of a particularly ugly loss to the Yankees, they did so tied for the top spot in the American League East. A divisional dogfight loomed despite three months of dominance – but so, too, did an opportunity.
And it’s an opportunity the Red Sox have most certainly taken advantage of.
Boston headed to Washington that day to meet a middling Nationals team, then it was on to Kansas City before returning to face a couple of sub-.500 teams at Fenway Park.