BOSTON — Alex Bregman has played in eight postseasons — and eight consecutive meaningful Septembers. It’s fair to say, then, that he has gained some pretty good perspective when it comes to how to handle adversity late in a season when the standings get tight.

With the Red Sox’ 5-3 loss to the Yankees on Saturday at Fenway and another Rangers win over the Mets, Boston’s lead in the American League wild card race is down to just two games. The American League East — with the Blue Jays leading Boston by 5 ½ games and the Yankees also ahead of Boston — is a long shot. With 14 games to go, the Sox no longer seem guaranteed to play into October. They’ll need to at least hold serve, and maybe even step on the gas a little bit, to make the playoffs.

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The road to October has gotten more difficult for Boston with three straight losses, including two tough ones to a surging Yankees team in which an offense without Roman Anthony has scored just four runs in 18 innings. In front of packed, raucous Fenway crowds, the Red Sox have fallen behind early and failed to catch up in two straight games. It’s important, Bregman said, that young players aren’t pressing.

“You could start swinging harder, trying to do more. You can start trying to throw harder and miss over the middle the plate,” Bregman said. “I think it’s just, slow it down and execute.

“Sometimes, less is more. I feel like that’s something we need to do a little bit of a better job of it. The last two days, we’ve been pretty amped up. Obviously, we’re excited. We’ve got a packed house here at Fenway. But sometimes, less is more. Just try to simplify.”

Saturday’s loss saw Boston fall behind 3-0 in the first three innings as the Yankees hit Brayan Bello hard. Boston’s offense tallied nine hits off ace Max Fried but failed to cash in and finished the game just 1-for-7 in scoring position. Over the the last three losses dating back to Wednesday in Sacramento, Boston is 3-for-31 in such situations. In all three games, that issue was coupled with the opponent scoring first.

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“I feel like we’ve got to do a better job of going out there and getting our pitchers a lead.” said Bregman. “You’ve just got to keep fighting, whether we’re down or up, keep battling. Keep getting after it before the game, keep getting after it during the game. It’ll turn.”

Down 4-0 in the fifth inning Saturday, the Red Sox got back within a run, in part thanks to solo homers by Bregman and Jarren Duran (as a pinch-hitter in the eighth). But Cody Bellinger’s RBI double made it a two-run game again in the ninth and closer David Bednar didn’t have much trouble recording the save a half-inning later.

“Obviously, we didn’t do enough tonight,” Bregman said. “We’ve just got to turn the page and get ready for tomorrow.”

A positive for Boston’s offense came in the form of Bregman’s first homer in more than a month. For the first time in 27 games (and 106 plate appearances), the All-Star third baseman went yard, albeit in Fenway-only fashion. Facing Fried in the fifth, Bregman lifted a middle-middle fastball down the right field line and got it to glance off Pesky’s Pole for his 17th homer of the season. He said getting to round the bases after hitting a 91.2 mph, 316-ft. fly ball gave him “a little boost.”

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“My chest wasn’t facing the left field foul pole when I was swinging,” joked Bregman, who entered Saturday hitting .196 with four doubles, five RBIs and a .525 OPS in his last 23 games (105 plate appearances) dating back to August 18. “I was actually on the baseball, so it was better.”

The Red Sox, who suddenly have a ton to play for over the final 13 games of the season, will look to avoid a sweep at the hands of their rivals in the finale on Sunday Night Baseball. They’ll have the benefit of doing so behind their ace, Garrett Crochet, but that will matter little if the offense can’t get going.

“I feel like everyone in here knows the most important pitch is tomorrow,” said Bregman. “First pitch of the game, then move onto the next one. Just keep plugging along, keep going. There’s a lot of baseball left to be played, obviously, and we’ve just got to get back to executing.”

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