The Red Sox are 6.5 GB in the AL East, with 73 games to play. Are they contenders for a playoff spot?
Alex Speier, Globe:
No AL East team in the last 25 years has overcome a first-half deficit of more than three games to win the division. The last teams to do so were the 1989 Blue Jays, down seven at the break, and the 1988 Morgan Magic Red Sox, down nine at the break.
The Red Sox have a .477 winning percentage. Of the 380 teams to make the playoffs from 1914 through 2014, just six had a winning percentage of .