As if the Red Sox’s disappointing 2-1 loss to the Athletics wasn’t bad enough, the New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 10-9, and the Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers, 6-5.

Taking all of Tuesday’s results into account, Houston leap-frogged Boston in the standings.

Yankees (84-67): +2.5

Astros (83-69): + 0.5

Red Sox (82-69): —

Luckily, Boston has a little breathing room when looking at the teams in its rearview mirror. The closest are the Cleveland Guardians, who are 2.5 games back, followed by the Texas Rangers, who are 3.5 games out.

Look, we know the sky isn’t falling. The Red Sox still have very good odds of reaching the postseason. FanGraphs puts it at 86.3%.

But a week ago, Boston’s chances were in the 90s. However, losing four of their last five games means the Red Sox have less wiggle room in the stretch run.

And don’t forget the schedule isn’t doing Boston any favors. Yes, it has two more games against the last-place A’s. And yes, that is followed by three games at the under-.500 Tampa Bay Rays.

But the Red Sox’s final week of the regular season is a doozy: three games at the first-place Toronto Blue Jays before returning home for three games with the Detroit Tigers, who sit atop the AL Central.

If the playoffs started today, the Red Sox would be staring at a wild-card series with the Astros. The one thing going in Boston’s favor is the fact it won the season series, 4-2, against Houston. The Red Sox swept a three-game series at home against the Astros last month, but dropped two of three when visiting Houston the following week.

Boston is trying to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2021, when they advanced to the American League Championship Series. And of course, we all remember who sent the Red Sox packing. Yup, the Astros. Gulp.