MLB: Yankees Hold the Key to Rays and Red Sox Playoff Chances

The Tampa Bay Rays have put themselves into a position that appears to give them a chance to make the playoffs, but their fate may lie in the hands of the New York Yankees.

The Boston Red Sox lead the Rays by 3.5 games. They have won four more games and lost three less games than Tampa Bay.

The schedule favors the Red Sox, who have 16 games remaining.

Boston hosts the Toronto Blue Jays for games Tuesday and Wednesday, and then Tampa comes to town for a critical four-game set beginning on Thursday.

The Red Sox homestand ends with four games against the Baltimore Orioles next Monday-Wednesday.

Following a day off, the Red Sox visit their friends in the Bronx for three games and finish the season in Baltimore with three more.

Tampa has 17 remaining games.

They open a three-game series against the Orioles today in Baltimore and then travel to Boston for the games against the Red Sox. The fun continues with three games in the Bronx.

When the Rays return home on Sept. 23, they host the Blue Jays for three games and finish the season with three more against the Yankees.

Many factors enter the picture, and some of them could produce ugly situations.

The Yankees lead the second place Red Sox by 3.5 games.

The final 10 Yankees games are against Tampa (seven) and Boston (three).

How will Joe Girardi manage if the Yankees are virtually assured of a playoff spot when they play their last few games? 

Will he repeat what he did last year when he rested many of the regulars and eschewed trying to beat out the Rays for the division title, or will he have his team go all-out in an attempt to save what little integrity remains in the game?

If the Yankees head to Tampa for the final three games of the season having just clinched a playoff spot, Girardi will have no choice but to prepare for the ALDS.

How will that affect the Rays and Red Sox if they are still fighting for the Wild Card?

The onus falls on Bud Selig and the Wild Card for creating an onerous situation that is untenable but becoming more frequent.

The Red Sox pitchers are struggling, injured or both. Tampa’s pitching is in good shape and they are on fire. All that can be thrown out the window.

If the Red Sox split their remaining 16 games, they finish 93-87. To win 93 games, Tampa must win 12 and lose only five, which would force a playoff game that is a real playoff game.

Once again, Joe Girardi and the Yankees could become the determining factor. Seven of the Rays' 17 games are against the Yankees. 

The Rays should lose at least two of the games against the Yankees, which means that they must win at least five of the six against the Orioles and Blue Jays.

The four games in Boston will go a long way in revealing if, for the Rays, it’s too little too late.