How Yankees can still win AL East title, as we break down their playoff scenarios

NEW YORK – As late as Sept. 17, the Yankees started the day five games behind the Toronto Blue Jays, cruising toward an AL East crown.

In a week, the Yankees have moved within a game of Toronto, which holds the all important tiebreaker between the teams.

With five games left in the regular season, “the math’s not great for us, necessarily,’’ Yanks manager Aaron Boone said before Wednesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox.

However, “we’re still playing for a lot, still. So, we’re focused on where we need to be.’’

Toronto entered Wednesday with a magic number of four (combined Jays wins and Yanks losses) to win the division.

And while the Yankees host two last-place teams in the lowly Chicago White Sox (58-99 entering Wednesday) and the Baltimore Orioles (74-83) over the final five games, the Blue Jays host the Boston Red Sox (86-71), clinging to the second wild card spot, and the Tampa Bay Rays (76-81).

If the Blue Jays posted a 3-2 record over their last five games, the Yankees would have to go 5-0 to repeat as AL East champs.

In punching their postseason ticket with Tuesday night’s 3-2 win against the White Sox, the Yankees maintained a three-game edge on the Boston Red Sox for the top AL wild card spot.

If they enter postseason as the No.1 wild card, the Yankees will host all games of best-of-three wild card series beginning Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

If the Yanks won the division, they’d gain entry to the Division Series, beginning Oct. 4.

Boone called Tuesday night’s postseason clinching party “a little pause to kind of appreciate where we got to’’ while still understanding “the bigger picture and where we want to go.

“We still have a chance to impact this regular season in a more positive way.’’

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Yankees playoff scenarios and how they can still win AL East

How Yankees can still win AL East title, as we break down their playoff scenarios

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