Six months and 161 games later, it all comes down to this.
Tied atop the wild-card standings with the Yankees, one game ahead of both the Blue Jays and Mariners, the scenario is simple for the Red Sox on Sunday: win, and the Wild Card Game will take place at Fenway Park on Tuesday.
While the Sox are guaranteed to play past Sunday, they’ll put the ball in Chris Sale’s hand to make sure they’re at home on Tuesday — and stay out of a potential Game 163 on Monday.
Boston will be favored to complete the sweep over the Nationals, who promoted righthander Joan Adon to make his debut in the season finale. Adon spent most of the season in High-A ball before late season promotions to Double A (for four games) and Triple A (one appearance), posting a 4.97 ERA in 17 starts for the High-A Wilmington Blue Rocks.
Lineups
RED SOX (91-70): Hernández 2B, Schwarber 1B, Bogaerts SS, Devers 3B, Martinez RF, Verdugo LF, Renfroe CF, Vázquez C, Sale P
Pitching: LHP Chris Sale (5-1, 2.90 ERA)
NATIONALS (65-96): Thomas CF, Escobar SS, Soto RF, Bell LF, Zimmerman 1B, Mercer 2B, Avila C, Kieboom C, Adon P
Pitching: RHP Joan Adon (-, ERA)
Time: 3:05 p.m.
TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7
Red Sox vs. Adon: Has not faced any Boston batters
Nationals vs. Sale: Avila 1-6, Bell 0-2, Escobar 25-74, Mercer 0-3, Parra 0-0, Zimmerman 0-2
Stat of the day: With four teams still in the hunt, there are 16 possible permutations for Sunday’s results, one of which — losses for the Red Sox and Yankees, wins for the Mariners and Blue Jays — would result in a four-way tie.
Notes: The Red Sox own the tiebreaker over the Yankees, in the case that the two teams finish with equal records ... Chris Sale is making his first career start against the Nationals, having only faced Washington twice as a reliever in 2011 ... For the Nationals, Sunday could be Ryan Zimmerman’s final game with the team. The 37-year-old first baseman says he has not decided about returning for a 17th season with the Nationals in 2022. As a part-time player this season, Zimmerman is hitting .246 with 14 homers and 45 RBIs ... Joan Adon pitched four scoreless innings in his only Triple-A appearance last week ... Adon will pitch to catcher Alex Avila, making his final MLB appearance.
Amin Touri can be reached at amin.touri@globe.com.
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October 03, 2021 at 09:39PM
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Chris Sale can seal Sox playoff berth in season finale at Nationals | Lineups and pregame notes - The Boston Globe
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