On Saturday, general manager Brian Cashman laid out the final month of the regular season for the Yankees.

“The preference is the division title,” Cashman said of catching the Red Sox. “The alternative is the first wild card. Let’s stay tuned and see how it plays.”

Two series against a pair of the worst teams in the American League marked a great opportunity for the Yankees to put a stranglehold on the top wild-card spot.

But Sunday’s 11-7 loss to the Tigers left them just 3-4 during their week in The Bronx and now the Yankees — 4 ¹/₂ games up on the A’s in the wild-card race — are faced with the task of heading to Oakland to start a nine-game road trip that will play a significant role in whether they host the one-game playoff — or possibly head back to the Bay Area.

For much of the homestand, the Yankees didn’t look the part of a team ready for a postseason run — and that continued in the finale, when Lance Lynn was hit hard for a fourth straight time and another comeback fell short when Greg Bird’s bid for a pinch-hit grand slam in the eighth was caught in front of the wall in right.

The Yankees wanted to stay away from Giancarlo Stanton on Sunday, since he’d started 85 straight games since May 28, but Josh Bard, filling in for the suspended Aaron Boone, said they would have used Stanton in the ninth.

The odd move nearly worked, anyway, as Bird hit it well.

“I didn’t get it get it, but I got it good,’’ Bird said. “It came up a little short. What are you gonna do?’’

Well, if they don’t want to travel to Oakland for the wild card, they’ll likely need to play better than they have since their sweep in Baltimore.

Boone, whose ban Sunday stemmed from having made contact with home-plate umpire Nic Lentz when the manager was ejected Friday, knows his team has a tough road ahead against the A’s.

“They’ve been one of the best teams in baseball, the last couple of months, especially,’’ Boone said before the game. “When we played them here earlier in the year … they got our attention with what they’re able to do.”

And they’ve made some improvements since the Yankees took two of three in May, although in the last week they’ve lost Sean Manaea and Brett Anderson from their rotation due to injuries.

“They’ve really bolstered their bullpen,’’ Boone said of the Yankees’ likely wild-card opponent. “We know we’ve got our hands full. I’m really looking forward to it, getting out on the West Coast and being challenged.”

They had hoped to do more at home, but they struggled throughout what Bard called a “frustrating” homestand.

Still, they had chances late.

Lynn gave up six runs in just 3 ²/₃ innings, but the Yankees threatened to get back in the game in the eighth against Victor Alcantara.

With two on and no one out, Miguel Andujar knocked in Andrew McCutchen with a single to left.

Gary Sanchez grounded into a forceout and Gleyber Torres walked to load the bases for Luke Voit, who struck out.

That’s when things got strange, as Bard went to Neil Walker to pinch hit for Austin Romine instead of Stanton.

But Walker reached on an infield single off Alcantara to make it 8-5.

Again, instead of Stanton, the Yankees went with Bird — who has slumped badly enough that he lost his starting job to Voit. And Bird’s bid to play hero failed.

Then, after Sonny Gray gave up just one run in four innings out of the bullpen, the Yankees called on Stephen Tarpley, who was making his MLB debut.

Tarpley allowed three runs in the ninth to put the game out of reach.

Bard said if the Yankees had gotten to within two runs in the eighth, they would have gone to Chad Green, but opted to “reset the bullpen.”

The Yankees followed by loading the bases with two out in the ninth and Torres hit a two-run single off Shane Greene, but Voit struck out looking to end it with the potential tying run on deck.