http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/30/sports/baseball/baseball-playoffs-boston-red-sox-wild-cards.html 2016-09-29 15:34:11 Baseball Playoffs: Thursday Update The Red Sox clinch the last division title, but the wild-card races continue. === The Boston Red Sox lost dramatically on Wednesday night on a two-out ninth-inning grand-slam home run by the Yankees’ Mark Teixeira. But they captured the American League East title anyway because the Toronto Blue Jays also lost on a dramatic ninth-inning home run, this one by Baltimore’s Hyun Soo Kim. The American League East was the last division without a winner. In addition to the Red Sox, the other teams to win their divisions are the Cubs, Nationals, Dodgers, Indians and Rangers. As for the wild-card races, in the American League, the Blue Jays still lead the pack, one game ahead of the Orioles, two games ahead of the Tigers, three games ahead of the Mariners and four and a half games ahead of the Astros. The Yankees? They are a half-game back of the Astros, but stubbornly remain alive in the race, just barely. They are out if they lose one more game. They are also out if Baltimore wins one of its last four games (the Orioles play one more time against the Blue Jays, on Thursday, and then finish up against the Yankees), or if Detroit wins two of its last four games (one game at home against Cleveland and then three in Atlanta), or if Seattle wins three of its last four (all at home against Atlanta). In the best-case scenario, the Yankees will stay alive through the final weekend of the regular season and play in a wild-card tiebreaker game on Monday. That is because the Blue Jays are guaranteed to finish with a better record than the Yankees, which eliminates one wild-card spot, and the Orioles, no matter what, can do no worse than finish with the same regular-season record as the Yankees. So even if everything goes perfectly for the Yankees over the next four days, and that won’t be easy, the best they can do is tie for wild card No. 2. In the National League, the Mets are now in a good position to capture one of the two wild-card spots. They won on Wednesday night, while the other teams vying for the wild-card spots — the Cardinals and Giants — both lost. So as of now, the Mets, with three games to go, lead the Giants by one and a half games and the Cardinals by two and a half. The Giants and Cardinals still have four games to play. The Mets finish the regular season with a weekend series in Philadelphia, which means a lot of Mets fans will be on hand to cheer them on. If they beat the Phillies twice, they are guaranteed a wild-card spot regardless of what the Giants and Cardinals do in their remaining games. The Giants play the Rockies on Thursday night, then finish up with a weekend series at home against the Dodgers (and Vin Scully). The Cardinals play the Reds at home on Thursday night, then finish out the season at home against the Pirates. The Mets get Thursday off to rest and savor they position they are now in.