It was only a week ago that the dream seemed possible. The Red Sox had crept within eight games of the Yankees in the AL East, having bludgeoned them in the first three games of a four-game set at Fenway Park.

Now, it seems like a fantasy. The Red Sox haven’t won since last Saturday night’s victory over the Yankees, losing five straight games and falling 11.5 games behind their blood rivals in the AL East and a whopping 13 games back in the loss column.

“They understand where we’re at. You got to be realistic and know where we’re at in the division and obviously where we are in the wild card,” Boston manager Alex Cora said Saturday, before the two teams met for a day-night doubleheader in The Bronx following the Yankees’ 4-2 win Friday night. “We’ve seen some weird stuff happening, division-wise with teams coming back, 10, 13 games back. But they’re playing good baseball and it’s a big lead.”

When asked if it will be hard for the defending World Series champions to get motivated by the wild card chase – the Red Sox trail the Rays by four games for the second spot – Cora pointed to the Yankees’ season last year. They trailed the Red Sox big in the AL East last summer, won the wild card game, split the first two games of the ALDS against the favored Red Sox and had a shot to advance.

His point being that it doesn’t matter how the Red Sox reach the playoffs, as long as they get in. That’s should be the focus, not the out-of-reach division race.

“You just got to find a way to get going and just get there. That’s the way I see it,” Cora said. “At the end of the day, we got to be consistent. It’s up to us to start playing good baseball, because we can do it. Everyone knows it. Everybody knows that we’re very talented. We can do it. It’s just a matter of putting good series’ together over and over and over again.

“It doesn’t matter how you make it – just make it. … They understand that OK, we haven’t been consistent at all this season. We still have a shot. That’s the way we see it. That’s the message.”