BOSTON — After one of his team’s better victories of the second half Sunday night over the Yankees, Alex Cora made it clear that the goalposts for the Red Sox have changed compared to recent seasons.

A 6-4 win in which Boston got out to a big lead with a hit parade in the first inning and rode a strong performance from ace Garrett Crochet to victory was Boston’s 82nd of 2025, meaning the club will finish with a record over .500 for the first time since 2021. It also capped off a decisive season series with the Yankees, in which the Red Sox were 9-4. Those facts mattered little to Cora, who isn’t willing to celebrate anything until the Red Sox officially clinch a playoff berth. That is very much within reach with two weeks left in the season. With 12 games to go, the Red Sox have a three-game advantage in the wild-card race over the Rangers, who are the first team on the outside looking in. A strong finish would set up a wild card berth.

“We are where we are,” said Cora, who deflected a series of questions about big-picture accomplishments after the game. “We have bigger goals than playing over .500. Our goal is to play in October.

“Everything I care (about) is to play in October.”

After three straight losses (in Wednesday’s series finale against the A’s and in the first two games of the Yankees series), things had tightened for the Red Sox entering Sunday. They had just a two-game lead over Texas, a club surging in a crowded American League West mix. But the Rangers lost to the Mets while the Astros (who now have the third wild card spot) were defeated by the Braves. Boston’s win, in which Crochet struck out 12 batters, put its lead back to three games over the Rangers and one game over Houston, which suddenly trails the Mariners, who have won nine straight to take over first place in the West.

The job is not finished for the Sox, who face the Athletics, Rays, Blue Jays and Tigers before the regular season ends September 28. But FanGraphs lists Boston’s playoff odds at 90.3% entering Monday, a day on which Boston is idle and the Rangers and Astros face each other.

“If you told me in Fort Myers we’re in a playoff spot… with two weeks left, I’d take it,” acknowledged Cora. “I know a lot of people here would take it, too. We’re not perfect, like I’ve always said, but we’re a good baseball team, so we’ll be ready for Tuesday.”

It’ll be an uphill climb for the Red Sox to close a 5 ½ game behind Toronto and challenge for the division title in the coming days, but the battle for the first wild card spot — and home field advantage for all games in a best-of-three wild card series — is still in play. The Red Sox trail the Yankees by 1 ½ games in that race entering Tuesday despite the decisive results in the season series between the rivals. The standings, Cora said, are what really matters, though the season series win means the Sox would have the tiebreaker if the teams finish with the same record next Sunday.

“I think that at the end of the day, it’s where you finish,” said Cora. “We’ve played well against them. They beat us three games in a row. It is what it is. They have a great team. Playing better defense now, and more athletic, so we’ll see what happens.”