While much of New England was sleeping Tuesday night, the Red Sox’ chances of returning to the postseason got a huge boost out west.

The Astros lost to the Athletics, 5-1, in West Sacramento, dropping Houston — the top runner-up in the American League wild card race — to two games behind the Red Sox, who beat Toronto, 4-1, earlier in the night . Because the Red Sox own the tiebreaker over Houston (Boston won four of six games between the clubs this season), it’s effectively a three-game lead with five games to go.

With Tuesday’s developments, Boston’s magic number to clinch a postseason spot is three (a combination of Red Sox wins and Astros losses, as of now).

The AL playoff picture is complicated and convoluted with five days left in the season, but it boils down to this: th

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