Bobby Valentine: 'Who Knows?' Yankees Could Miss Playoffs
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- The Red Sox invaded the Bronx this weekend and left with a much-needed series win.
Bobby Valentine's team stands at an even .500 after Sunday night's 3-2 victory. Before the game, Valentine weighed the chances of one team in the stadium missing the playoffs.
And he wasn't talking about Boston.
"Maybe they won't get in it," he said of the first-place Yankees, according to ESPN. "Who knows? Crazy things happen in this game."
Sunday's win wasn't enough to pull the Red Sox, now 9 1/2 games behind New York, out of the AL East cellar. The Yankees have won six of nine contests against Boston, a team beset by injuries and clubhouse issues this season.
If Valentine's team is to make a run, they'll have to come together quickly.
"We might win the division," Valentine said. "Who knows?"
The Red Sox are just four games behind for one of two American League wild card spots. But he has his sights set on the division -- and the AL's top team.
"I haven't looked at it that way," Valentine said of the wild card. "No, no. ... We play a lot of games against the Yankees."
Valentine did mention the wild card after he brought up the Rays, who were 9 1/2 games out of first in late July last season and rallied to make the playoffs. Tampa Bay never caught the Yankees but clinched a postseason berth on the final day of the season as Boston completed its historic collapse.
"They made the playoffs with one wild card, in this division, so I mean this isn't just wild dreaming," said Valentine. "It tells you if you get your act together, you can do a lot of things in two months. We just have to get our act together.
"We've been a real disjointed group all year because of the injuries, different things that have gone on. … We need to put the past behind us and play the next 60 games the way we're capable of playing. If we do that, I think we'll be right in it to win it."
Yankees fans, what do you think of Valentine's comments? Be heard in the comments below!
