With Garrett Crochet tossing a gem and leading Boston to a 7-1 win over the Blue Jays Wednesday, and with the Athletics beating the Houston Astros late Wednesday night, the Red Sox’ magic number to clinch a playoff spot is down to one. The Red Sox have two ways to clinch Thursday:

1. The Athletics beat the Astros.
2. The Red Sox beat the Blue Jays.

The A’s and Astros will play at 3:35 p.m. on Thursday, so that game should be wrapped up before the Red Sox go for a series sweep of the Blue Jays in Toronto at 7:07 p.m. Houston will have Framber Valdez (12-11, 3.75 ERA) on the mound, while the A’s will send out J.T. Ginn (4-6, 4.57 ERA).

Brayan Bello (11-8, 3.34 ERA) will be on the hill for the Red Sox, while the Jays will send out Louis Varland as a starter. Shane Bieber was slated to start for Toronto, but has been pushed back to Friday.

If the Red Sox do clinch, it would be the first time Boston has made the postseason since 2021.

Red Sox playoff standings

The Red Sox are now 87-71 on the season and remain in the No. 2 Wild Card spot in the American League. Boston owns a two-game lead over the Detroit Tigers — the No. 3 Wild Card team at the moment — and a three-game lead over the Astros, who are on the outside looking in with four games to play.

Boston’s odds of making the playoffs shot up to 99.6 percent with Wednesday night’s outcomes in the American League. But who the Red Sox will play remains very much up in the air.

The Yankees beat the White Sox on Wednesday and are now 90-68. They’re tied with the Blue Jays atop the American League East. But Toronto is on top thanks to their winning record against the Yankees during the regular season, while New York is currently the No. 1 Wild Card team.

Boston sits three games back of both teams. The Red Sox technically still have a chance to win the division, but they’d need to win out (with one more game against the Blue Jays and three against the Tigers at Fenway Park) and have the Yankees and Blue Jays lose the rest of their games. The path to the No. 1 Wild Card is similarly difficult for Boston.

As the No. 2 Wild Card team, the Red Sox would play the top Wild Card squad on the road. At the moment, that could mean a trip to New York for three against the Yankees. But depending how the East plays out, Boston could also end up back in Toronto next week for three against the Blue Jays.

If the Red Sox slide back into the No. 3 Wild Card spot, they’d likely play the winner of the American League Central. That would currently mean a showdown with the red hot Cleveland Guardians, who are a game up on the struggling Detroit Tigers in the division.

It looks like the Red Sox will clinch a playoff spot in the next day or so, and will then play either the Yankees, Blue Jays, Guardians, or Tigers on the road in the postseason. There is still a lot to sort out over the final four days of the regular season, but the Red Sox can punch their ticket to the playoffs as early as Thursday.

• Major League Baseball
• Boston Red Sox