This story was excerpted from Ian Browne’s Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

The “underdog” Red Sox, as their own chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom dubbed them just minutes after the Trade Deadline expired, are still very much alive in the hunt for a postseason spot.

But to be a team that can go the distance in the hunt for October, Boston must get through this upcoming 10-game homestand still within striking distance.

This should be the last stretch in which the Sox are without three of their key pitchers at the same time.

Look for oft-injured ace Chris Sale to be activated by the Red Sox around Aug. 11, which is the final series of the homestand.

Tanner Houck and Garrett Whitlock should be back by Aug. 15, when the Sox start a three-city road trip in Washington D.C.

For over a month, Boston has gritted it out with a three-man rotation of Brayan Bello, James Paxton and Kutter Crawford. Behind those three, it’s mixed in bullpen games, led by standout performances in the bulk-innings role from Nick Pivetta and rookie Chris Murphy.

Though the Red Sox have fared well over the last five weeks (17-9) even while short-handed, they’ve done so with a favorable schedule that has included numerous days off.

As Red Sox manager Alex Cora has joked many times, “Monday and Thursday are always available to us.”

Not on this homestand. Monday and Thursday are game days. Starting with Friday night against the Blue Jays, the team they trail by 2 1/2 games in the AL Wild Card standings, the Red Sox will play baseball on 10 straight days.

If the bullpen can withstand this rigorous stretch at Fenway, things could be promising when the next road trip starts with a number of pitchers returning.

Another added boost is the return of Trevor Story, who is expected to make his season debut on this homestand. Story is one of the most dynamic athletes the Red Sox have. He can change a game with his bat, glove and legs.

“We’ve just got to be ready,” Cora said. “It's going to be fun this weekend against the Jays and then after that, you know, we have to play good baseball.”

In recent weeks, the Sox have been excellent at Fenway Park, winning nine of their last 11 home games. The offense, in particular, has taken advantage of the way the ball carries during the summer months.

If the offense can be prolific during the homestand, it will take some burden off a bullpen that started to show some wear on the West Coast trip.

In Wednesday’s finale of what wound up a 2-4 trip on the West Coast, Cora didn’t have ace setup men Chris Martin or Josh Winckowski available due to recent workload. It showed as a 3-0 lead slipped away in the sixth and seventh innings in an eventual 6-3 loss.

Toronto is easily the toughest team Boston will face on the homestand (the Royals and Tigers are the other opponents), but the Sox are 7-0 against the Jays this season.

This would be an ideal time to continue that momentum.

“We’re very confident,” star slugger Rafael Devers said. “We've been playing good baseball against [the Blue Jays] and we're looking forward to this weekend. We’re very happy to be able to go back home and play a 10-game homestand. That’s our home and we’re going to do everything that we can to win most of the games.”