McAdam: With chance to clinch in New York, Red Sox can make a statement this week

Timing can be everything, and so it is, in a bit of fate, that the Red Sox can clinch their third division title in a row this week in New York.

They'll get three chances to do so, with the team's magic number at two to wrap up the American League East -- meaning any Red Sox win Tuesday through Thursday will coincide with a Yankee defeat, handing the division to the Red Sox.

For the Sox, there's something fitting about the opportunity to lock up first at the home of their chief rival.

Most of last winter, when the Yankees added Giancarlo Stanton, building on a team that had forced the eventual world champion Houston Astros to seven games in the ALCS, New York appeared to be the clear favorite in the division.

The Red Sox, it was widely assumed, would have to reach the post-season via the wild card.

Instead, the Sox are on the threshold of not just winning the A.L. East, but also setting a franchise record for most wins in a season. The Red Sox have 103 games and three more wins in the final dozen games remaining on the regular season schedule will result in them becoming the winningest Sox team in history.

First, however, comes the division.

Alex Cora had to suppress a smile when asked Sunday about the significance of likely clinching on the Yankees' home turf.

"For me,'' said Cora, "it's going to be special whether it's (in) New York, Baltimore or Tampa. This is a special group and we have a chance to finish it off. We've been talking about it for a month and a half and now we're right there. If it happens Tuesday, it will be a fun night.''

And stand in stark contrast to the team's last clinching party at Yankee Stadium. In September of 2016, the Red Sox were sputtering down the stretch, but, thanks to results in other games, managed to secure the A.L. East on a night in which Mark Teixeira beat them with a walk-off grand slam.

It made for an awkward moment and rotten optics: minutes after losing in the most gruesome manner imaginable, the Red Sox were spraying champagne on one another in the visitor's clubhouse. It hardly felt like a proper celebration.

This time will be different. The Sox are not backing into anything. They've held first place for the entirety of the second half of the season and haven't been out of top spot since July 1, when they were percentage points behind the Yankees.

As the season heads into the final two weeks, the Red Sox are streaking and the Yankees are fading, with their general manager Brian Cashman saying flatly: "We're not playing good baseball right now.''

Now, there's the prospect of beating the Yankees on the field, then having a party on their field and clubhouse.

"It would be awesome,'' said Chris Sale. "I think we all would like to do it (at Fenway). But the way it was set up, we weren't able to do that. But (doing against your biggest rivals) in the game would be fun.''

"It definitely would be a cool experience,'' agreed J.D. Martinez of the possibility. "A lot of (Yankees) fans wouldn't like it.''

When the Sox assured themselves of a playoff spot with a win on the recent homestand, Cora wisely kept the post-game celebration to a minimum: he toasted the team for its achievement, but it was properly low-key, with the knowledge that another celebration was upcoming.

It's silly to paint these Red Sox as plucky underdogs. They do, after all, sport the biggest payroll in the game, and post-season failures aside, they're coming off two straight division titles. So this hardly qualifies as a team coming out of nowhere to finish in first place.

Still, the relative ease with which the Sox are set to cement the division is something of a surprise. Only the Cleveland Indians have clinched a division title, and they have had the benefit of playing in a division in which three teams (Detroit, Chicago and Kansas City) are focused squarely on the future while the fourth (Minnesota) has considerably underachieved.

By contrast, while the atrocious Baltimore Orioles have offered easy pickings and the Blue Jays sport a losing record, the Yankees will finish with more than 95 wins and upstart Tampa Bay Rays have a chance of winning 90.

Yet, here the Red Sox sit, with three opportunities to secure first in the second-to-last week of the division. And beyond the "when,'' there's the fortuitous matter of "where'' that will make this feel even sweeter.