Don't look now but the Red Sox are a really good team again

75756A5E-120A-4932-810C-2FD980DB785E

You know the deal.

The Red Sox are 5 1/2 games out of the final Wild Card spot with 27 games to play. They are red-hot, having now won five of the first six games on this road trip after a 7-6, 15-inning victory over the Angels Friday night. It is a team that is doing a really good job of clinging to the kind of hope many believed wouldn't exist when August turned into September. (For a complete recap of the latest Red Sox' win, click here.)

All of it has allowed for some unexpected late-summer intrigue. It has also led to thoughts of what could have been, especially after experiencing the 5-hour, 23-minute affair at Angel Stadium.

This was more along the lines of what Nathan Eovaldi was supposed to be, with the starter allowing just one run over his four innings, striking out eight along the way.

And then there was the payoff for that trade deadline acquisition of Andrew Cashner. The righty who represented all that was wrong with this team early on in the month has found a new lease on life in the bullpen, this time pitching four no-hit innings to close things out after the Angels tied things up with two runs in the ninth inning off of Brandon Workman. Cashner's last six outings have resulted in just one run in 10 innings with hitters managing just a .125 batting average against.

THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT! pic.twitter.com/00BpD3pa2U

— Red Sox (@RedSox) August 31, 2019

You look at this team now and -- even with the uncertainty of the starting rotation -- a vision of a postseason team can be uncovered.

Since that sweep at the hands of the Yankees in the first week of August the Red Sox' offense possesses the majors fourth-best OPS and batting average, scoring the fifth-most runs. Their bullpen has managed the big league's lowest batting average against (.185) and second-lowest ERA (2.91). Even the makeshift starting rotation has hung on just enough, turning in a middle-of-the-pack 4.59 ERA (albeit with the fourth-fewest innings pitched, just 3 2/3 innings more than the inventors of the "opener," Tampa Bay).

Since Aug. 5 the Red Sox have four players (J.D. Martinez, Rafael Devers, Brock Holt and Xander Bogaerts) who have OPS of better than 1.000, with Betts sitting close behind at .928.

All of it has led to 14 wins in their last 21 tries and the ability to live life 11 games over .500 for the first time since July 28. 

It turns out the Red Sox did have enough. Whether or not that leads to continued hope or hair-pulling remains to be seen.