The Red Sox closed their regular season in the most unusual of home settings: Tropicana Field, where they wore the home designation Sunday but occupied the visitors’ dugout and clubhouse for a 6-2 loss to the Cubs. Boston had been in St. Petersburg the previous weekend, had clinched its postseason berth there, and could be back again next Saturday if it gets through the Yankees in the American League Wild Card Series.
Game 162 had been moved from Fenway Park as a precaution with a nor’easter bringing heavy rain and strong winds across the East Coast. A crowd of 20,411 showed up on short notice, giving the afternoon a Spring Training kind of feel despite the calendar. The ballpark leaned into Boston’s temporary home date, using Green Monster-style scoreboard graphics and playing “Sweet Caroline” during the eighth inning.
There was nothing left to settle in the standings, but the Red Sox still wanted to leave town with a sharper finish. Instead, Chicago held them to five hits, with only two coming after the second inning. Adley Rutschman gave Boston an early lift with a solo homer in the first, but Alex Bregman carried the Cubs’ offense. The designated hitter went 4-for-4, added a walk, doubled, hit two home runs and drove in four.
Boston finished 87-75 and will fly to New York for Tuesday’s Wild Card Series opener against the Yankees, scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. Manager Chad Tracy said the club had played its final regular-season game and now had to turn its attention to the trip north, while hoping another weekend at the Trop awaits.
A familiar room and a long road back
The Red Sox chose the visitors’ clubhouse even while listed as the home club, a decision that made sense after their recent series in Tampa Bay and the celebration that followed their playoff clinch. After finishing that series last weekend, Boston waited roughly an hour for Houston to lose, then opened the champagne and beer in the same building.
Tracy laughed that the Rays probably did not want Boston taking over their own room. Payton Tolle called the club’s repeated returns to St. Petersburg the sort of circumstance that might someday make a good trivia question. Caleb Durbin said the first priority remains New York, but the possibility of returning to the Trop is already on the players’ minds.
That possibility would have sounded far-fetched earlier in the season. Boston stood 32-46 on June 24, sitting 15 1/2 games behind the first-place Yankees in the AL East. Tracy, who replaced Alex Cora on April 26, guided the club through a 55-29 surge after the team had reached its low point. Durbin said the Red Sox had earned the chance ahead of them through their work across all 162 games.
Sunday also marked a meaningful return for Tanner Houck. The right-hander made his first Major League appearance since May 12, 2025, following Tommy John surgery. He worked three innings, threw 50 pitches with 34 strikes, and allowed three runs, both Bregman homers among them.
Houck described the day as a mix of nerves, excitement, happiness and gratitude. His aim, he said, was simply to feel like a ballplayer again and compete in the game he loves. Thirteen months after surgery, reaching a Major League mound in September had been the target from the beginning. The results included some rough spots, but Houck left encouraged by having cleared a major step in his return.
For Boston, the strange Tropicana Field home game is now behind it. The clubhouse has another flight ahead, another rivalry waiting in New York, and a chance to make St. Petersburg feel even more like a second home.
