Boston Red Sox: Will They Make It to 100 Wins This Season?

The Boston Red Sox have completed 128 games and they hold a 78-50 record. They are in a tie for the lead in the American League East division, and they look poised to make a run for their third World Series title in the past eight years. What is intriguing about Boston's record is that they have 78 wins while 34 games still remain to be played.

If I have done my math correctly, the Red Sox have a legitimate chance at winning 100 games this season.

If Boston wants to win 100 games for the first time since Ted Williams was around in the 1946 season, the Sox have to finish out the year with a 22-12 record. This essentially means that they have to win two out of every three games that they play. 

This may seem like a daunting task at first, but I assure you that this is perfectly doable. In fact, Boston has already accomplished having at least 22 wins over a span of 34 games this season. Twice.

Over the 34-game span of May 8 to June 15, the Red Sox went 25-9 and then from July 1 to August 8, the Sox again won 25 out of 34 games. If they have already managed to do this twice, who is to say that they cannot do it again?

The factor that is riding against Boston over the next 34 games is their strength of schedule. The majority of the games remaining are battles against AL East rivals and the rest deal with the always difficult AL West teams.

Sixteen of the 34 games include seven against the Baltimore Orioles, six against the Toronto Blue Jays, and three against the Oakland Athletics. These games should be the easier ones down the stretch and hopefully the Sox can win at least 11 of the 16 games listed here.

The remaining 18 games include five games against the Texas Rangers, seven against the Tampa Bay Rays, and six against Boston's arch-rival, the New York Yankees. All three of these teams are very tough opponents and the Red Sox have struggled specifically against Texas, only sporting a 1-4 record against them.

But Boston is very capable of going 11-7 against these teams, if not better. Also, should the Sox continue to have the success that they have had against the Yankees this season, winning down the stretch should definitely not be a problem.

There are 34 games yet to be played this year for the Boston Red Sox, and the ever elusive 100 game season is hovering in front of the team's dugout. This potential also happens to be hovering in front of the Yankees dugout, making the race to 100 wins a race for the AL East title. 

The only question is will the Red Sox take the opportunity given to them? Or will they let it fade away and finish out the season with a win count in the nineties?