It wasn't easy, but then again, why would it be?
Why, six months in, after 161 games had been played, would things change now?
You didn't expect the Red Sox would flip the script in the final game of the season, did you?
All season long, the Red Sox have been doing things the hard way, but especially in the second half, and more specifically, the final weeks, of the season.
When they could have put themselves in firm control of the wild card race, they got swept at home by the Yankees. When they could have wrapped things up before the final weekend, they dropped two-of-three to the worst team in the game.
Even the first two wins over the Washington Nationals this weekend were harder than they should have been. The Red Sox had everything to play for and the Nationals had the buses running outside the ballpark, with nothing for which to play. And yet, the Red Sox had to win two squeakers to put themselves in position for Sunday.
It was all laid out for them. Win and they would be the top wild card seed. It wouldn't matter what the Yankees or Blue Jays or Mariners did. Never mind all those tie-breaking scenarios and complications. The Red Sox could take care of their business. And even better, they had Chris Sale, on full rest, ready to help them.
So, of course, Sale was lifted after just 2.1 innings, and the bullpen, already overtaxed in recent days, suddenly had to find a way to get 20 outs.
As the Red Sox fell behind -- 2-0, then 5-1 -- there were some unpleasant reminders of why this team has occasionally struggled. Garrett Richards couldn't cleanly handle a soft comebacker, eliminating any chance of an inning-ending double play as the Nats scored three times off him in the fifth. Alex Verdugo made a bone-headed baserunning blunder, caught in the middle of some indecision, and eventually, caught in between first and second base,
And there were the familiar issues with runners in scoring position. They failed to score when they had first-and-second with no outs in the second, They couldn't do anything with a second-and-third, one-out chance in the fifth. In the sixth, it was second-and-third, one out, and nothing doing.
For a team that entered the final game of the season with the fourth-best runs-per-game average, the Sox had a maddening habit of failing to cash in on such opportunities. No sense having that be any different in Game No. 162.
All the while, the Red Sox kept track of the out-of-town scores. It was obvious from the early innings that Toronto was going to again paste Baltimore and potentially insert itself into the picture. All the while, the Yankees and Rays were scoreless, inning after inning.
Had they really come this far, only to lose the final game of the season to team that has been out of contention since June?
"The biggest thing,'' said Verdugo, who would himself contribute a huge two-run single in the three-run seventh, "is just don't get ahead of yourself. One at-bat at a time. Try to scratch away some runs, whether it's one run in an inning. Don't try to get all four of them back with one swing. It's like, 'Hey, 'let's just chip away.''
So they did. One back in the sixth, and in key sequence, three in the seventh, keyed by Verdugo's double.
In the eighth, it became the Rafael Devers show, as Devers unveiled his impression of Carl Yastrzemski on the final weekend of 1967. Then, as now, the Red Sox were locked in a race with four teams. Then, as now, their lefty slugger took over the series, swatting a mammoth two-run shot to center to put the Red Sox ahead for good.
In 1967, Yastrzemski went 7-for-8 in the final two games. On this weekend, Devers had "only'' five hits, but three of them were homers and of the 12 runs the Sox scored, Devers knocked in five of them.
There were more surprises in order. Garrett Whitlock, activated from the IL in the morning, tossed a perfect inning with two strikeouts and hardly looked like someone who hadn't pitched in two weeks. Eduardo Rodriguez, who started Friday, pitched on a day's rest and was the winning pitcher. And the save, of course, went to Nick Pivetta, who dropped a curveball hammer on Juan Soto for the final strike of the game, for his second major league save.
Predictable? Not at all.
Thrilling? Right to the final out.
Easy? No, because why they should they start now?