BOSTON — After dropping the first two games of the series, the Red Sox beat the Yankees, 6-4 to strengthen their grip on a playoff spot and move within 1½ games of the Yankees in the wild card race.

Boston would be the No. 5 seed as the second wild card if the standings hold and would play the Yankees in the Bronx in the best-of-three wild card round.

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Texas’ loss to the Mets means the Red Sox have a three-game lead over the Rangers, who are the first team out of the playoffs and 3½.

Here’s where things stand:

Red Sox record: 82-68

Games remaining: 12

ESPN Analytics: ESPN’s computer simulation gives Red Sox an 86 percent chance of making the playoffs.

Playoff Format

Six teams make the field. The top two division winners each get byes in the Wild Card round. The third division winner is the No. 3 seed and plays the third wild card team. The first and second wild card teams are the No. 4 and 5 seeds and play each other. The higher seed will host all the games.

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StandingsEast Division

W

L

Pct

GB

Toronto

87

62

.584

—

New York

83

66

.557

4

Boston

82

68

.547

5½

Wild Card

W

L

Pct.

New York

83

66

.557

+2½

Boston

82

68

.547

+1

Houston

81

69

.540

—

Texas

79

71

.527

2

Cleveland

78

71

.523

2½

Sunday’s results for AL teams in playoff contention:

Toronto 11, Baltimore 2

Detroit 2, Miami 0

Cleveland 3, Chicago White Sox 2

Kansas City 10, Philadelphia 3

Atlanta 8, Houston 3

N.Y. Mets 5, Texas 2, 10 innings

Chicago Cubs 4, Tampa Bay 3

Arizona 6, Minnesota 4

Athletics 7, Cincinnati 4

Seattle 11, L.A. Angels 2

Boston 6, N.Y. Yankees 4

Monday games for AL teams in playoff contention:

Toronto (Yesavage 0-0) at Tampa Bay (TBD), 7:35 p.m.

N.Y. Yankees (Rodón 16-8) at Minnesota (Woods Richardson 6-4), 7:40 p.m.

Texas (Leiter 9-8) at Houston (Alexander 4-1), 8:10 p.m..

Red Sox Games Remaining: 12

Sept. 16-18: vs. Oakland

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Sept 19-21: at Tampa Bay

Sept. 23-25: at Toronto

Sept. 26-28 vs. Detroit

If the playoffs started today:American League Byes

No. 1 Toronto, No. 2 Detroit,

Wild Card Round

Best of 3 — Games are Sept. 30, Oct. 1, 2

No. 3 Seattle vs. No. 6 Houston

No. 4 N.Y. Yankees vs. No. 5 Boston

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