OAKLAND - The Red Sox probably felt a little different when they woke up in their Southern California beds Monday morning. They were living the life of a contender.
Thanks to the Sox' three-game sweep of the A's - punctuated by a 5-2 win in Oakland Sunday - Alex Cora's team sits entrenched as a Wild Card team, joining the Blue Jays and Tampa Bay.
Oh, and they also find themselves at .500 for the first time since April 22. Considering the Red Sox left Texas eight games under the mark back on May 15, staring at a three-game series with Houston, it's an accomplishment that should bring a spring to the Sox' step.
So, what has happened since that low point? A lot.
For starters, the Red Sox are 14-6 during the turnaround, the best mark in the major leagues. (And that's while going just 2-for-5 in save opportunities in those 20 games.)
Really the straw that has stirred this drink, however, has been a resurgent offense. What was one of the big league's worse, is now one of the best.
Since coming home from that mid-May road trip, the Red Sox carry the best batting average (.298) and OPS (.889) in the big leagues, collecting the most hits (214), total bases (378), and extra-base hits (97). Only the Dodgers have hit more home runs than the Sox' 32.
They have three hitters who have OPS north of 1.000 over the 20 games - Rafael Devers (1.119), Trevor Story (1.092) and J.D. Martinez (1.046) - with Xander Bogaerts sitting just behind at .936.
The ninth-best OPS on the Red Sox during this span - Alex Verdugo's .757 - would have in the Top 4 prior to the resurgence.
Also not to be ignored has been the impact of Franchy Cordero, who got things going for the Red Sox Sunday with his third homer of the season. The Sox are now 18-13 when Cordero plays, with the first baseman/outfielder totaling a .792 OPS in the 20-game stretch.
As for the pitching ... They are figuring it out.
The starters have never been the problem, and continue to be part of the solution.
The last piece of the puzzle will be figuring out the final few outs.
The revelation over the run has been John Schreiber, who has vaulted to the top of the list when it comes to Cora's most trusted relievers. The righty hasn't allowed a run or a walk over the six games he has appeared in during the run, stranding all three runners he has inherited.
And while Matt Strahm has hit some recent bumps in the road, his effectiveness in the last 20 games shouldn't be ignored, holding opponents to a 1.58 ERA while striking out 11 and walking just two over 11 innings.
The wild card might be Tanner Houck, who has been dabbling in some late-inning appearances, having not given up a run since leaving that series in Texas.
"The mentality he’s not afraid," Cora said of Houck. "He came out of the bullpen last year and was huge for us. He’s one of those guys, we see him as a weapon back there and we’ll use him the right way."
There is still some figuring out to do, no question about it. But it's hard to ignore that the Red Sox suddenly find themselves in a palatable position, now taking on a team that has lost 11 in a row (the Angels) before traveling to Seattle for a meeting with the 24-30 Mariners.
And to add to the optimism, the current road trip is followed by a nine-game homestead that includes games against the lowly A's and Tigers.
Summer baseball around these parts might be interesting, after all.
