At 3:05 p.m. ET on Sunday, Major League Baseball’s 30 teams played their 162nd and final games of the 2025 regular season.

In Boston, the Red Sox and Detroit Tigers duked it out for seeding, both teams having clinched their respective playoff berths in the first two games of the series.

The Red Sox scored first and enough to win 4-3, take the series, and clinch the No. 5 seed in the AL playoff bracket.

A manager could not have asked for much more from a pitcher called up that day from Triple-A than what José De León gave Alex Cora on Sunday: length, and thereby, rest for the regular pitching staff as the Red Sox prepare for their first playoff run in four years.

“Innings. Hopefully he can go — I talked to him yesterday, I said you got 100 (pitches)? He’s like ‘I’ve got 120,’” Cora said pregame. “So we’ll see. Stay away from certain guys, it’s important, and then hopefully he can go deep into the game.”

De León threw 101 pitches over 6.2 innings, both new career-highs, in his Red Sox debut. He allowed three earned runs on eight hits, walked three, and struck out eight.

When Cora walked out to the mound in the top of the seventh, the standing ovation began for De León. It grew louder still when, as the 33-year-old righty neared the edge of the grass, he gently tipped his cap in appreciation.

De León debuted with the ‘16 Dodgers. Sunday was his 57th major league game. The Red Sox are his fifth big-league team. It is unlikely he will even sniff the postseason roster, but the club is better prepared to enter October because of what he did on Sunday.

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Jose De Leon smiles as he is greeted by teammates in the dugout after being removed in the top of the seventh inning during a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Jim Davis)

Boston lost and reclaimed the lead in the third, and the game remained unchanged thereafter. Javy Báez’s 12th home run of the year, following back-to-back singles by Justyn-Henry Malloy and Kerry Carpenter, sailed into the Monster seats to get Detroit on the board and on top 3-1.

The home team answered back in the bottom of the inning with a one-out walk by Connor Wong and two-run game-tying homer by David Hamilton. Nick Sogard and Jarren Duran followed with back-to-back doubles to get in front 4-3.

Boston tallied seven hits to Detroit’s nine.

The Red Sox could not let the regular season end without doing something not seen in Boston in over a century. Breaking for second in the bottom of the first, Ceddanne Rafaela became the fourth player on this year’s club to steal at least 20 bases. The last time a Red Sox team had as many as four players reach that mark was 1912. The Red Sox are also the 11th team in major league history to have three players reach the 15-homer and 20-steal marks in the same season.

At the end of the sixth inning, Cora gave Story a hug. Nate Eaton headed out to man third, and Nick Sogard moved to shortstop.

If not the American League Comeback Player of the Year, Story is certainly this team’s. He entered Sunday as one of three major leaguers with at least 25 home runs, 30 stolen bases and 90 RBI this season; the only other Red Sox to reach all three benchmarks in the same season was Jacoby Ellsbury in 2011. Story began the season with a franchise record-breaking 31-for-31 stolen base record, also the second-longest streak in MLB since the Expansion Era began in 1961.

Steven Matz recorded the final out of the seventh, and Zack Kelly finished off the regular season with a pair off scoreless innings.

Facts and figures

The Red Sox finish their 125th season 89-73. Their 34 series wins (34-12-7) are their most since 2018. Their 12 walk-off wins tie their 19161 season for the second-most in franchise history (they had 13 in 1940).

After a three-year drought, they will return to the postseason for the 26th time.

The Wild Card round begins Wednesday.