It could even happen before the Red Sox take the field, as a Houston loss or a Red Sox win would clinch a wild-card spot for Boston. The Astros face the Athletics at 3:30 p.m.
The Red Sox will go for a sweep of the Blue Jays at 7:07 p.m. with Brayan Bello on the mound. Righthander Louis Varland will get the nod for the Blue Jays.
Here’s your preview.
RED SOX (87-71): Duran LF, Story SS, Bregman 3B, Yoshida DH, Gonzalez 2B, Rafaela CF, Lowe 1B, Refsnyder RF, Wong C
Pitching: RHP Brayan Bello (11-8, 3.34 ERA)
BLUE JAYS (90-68): Springer DH, Lukes RF, Guerrero 1B, Barger 3B, Santander LF, Varsho CF, Clement 2B, Gimenez SS, Heineman C
Pitching: RHP Louis Varland (4-3, 3.10 ERA)
Time: 7:07 p.m.
TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7
Red Sox vs. Varland: Wilyer Abreu 1-2, Alex Bregman 2-5, Jarren Duran 0-3, Romy González 1-5, David Hamilton 1-1, Carlos Narváez 0-1, Ceddanne Rafaela 0-2, Trevor Story 1-2, Connor Wong 1-1, Masataka Yoshida 0-1
Blue Jays vs. Bello: Addison Barger 4-11, Ernie Clement 1-6, Andrés Giménez 2-5, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 11-27, Isiah Kiner-Falefa 2-5, Alejandro Kirk 4-13, Joey Loperfido 0-3, Nathan Lukes 0-4, Anthony Santander 2-14, Davis Schneider 0-4, George Springer 10-28, Myles Straw 0-1, Daulton Varsho 2-9
Stat of the day: The Red Sox are 4-1 on their road trip that has put them on the cusp of making the postseason for the first time since 2021.
Notes: The Red Sox could knock the Blue Jays out of first in the AL East, depending on the result of the game between the Yankees and White Sox on Thursday. The Yankees moved into a first-place tie in the division with an 8-1 win over the White Sox on Wednesday. The Blue Jays hold the tiebreaker. … The Red Sox occupy the second wild-card spot and are three games behind the Blue Jays in the division. … The Blue Jays have lost six of seven and a five-game lead on Sept. 16 is gone. They’ve scored a total of five runs in those six losses. … The Blue Jays were no match for Crochet, who is 18-5 with a 2.59 ERA and 255 strikeouts over 205 ⅓ innings. … Bello is 3-5 with a 5.36 ERA in 10 career starts against the Blue Jays and is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in one start against them this season. … Righthander Shane Bieber was scheduled to start for Toronto on Thursday, but the team decided to give him an extra day between starts. He now is scheduled to start Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays. … Varland is 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA in five relief appearances against Boston. Lefthander Eric Lauer (9-2, 3.32) could be featured on Thursday after Varland. He is 1-0 with a 4.05 ERA in three career games (two starts) against Boston.
Emma Healy can be reached at emma.healy@globe.com or on X @ByEmmaHealy.
