Just three weeks ago, it looked like the Red Sox and Yankees would be fighting for every inch of the division. The Yankees held a four-game lead and were riding the tail-end of a six-game win streak with the second-best record in the American League. Since June 13, they’ve lost 14 of 19 games and are in a full-on tailspin to start the second half of the season.
Over that same stretch, the Red Sox have seized the Yankees’ prolonged funk and turned a four-game deficit into a three-game advantage. Ahead of their series opener against the Texas Rangers, the Sox come into play having won six of their last seven – including a definitive sweep of the Blue Jays in Toronto.