Bobby Valentine says division-leading Yankees could miss playoffs

Bobby Valentine's team sits 9.5 games out of first place, but it's the Yankees that he says may miss the playoffs. (Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

With his team in last place in the American League East but having taken two of three games from the Yankees, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said Sunday night the Yankees could be the team of the two that misses the playoffs.

Valentine's Red Sox are 51-51 and 9.5 games out of first place in the AL East. New York, on the other hand, holds a 7.5-game advantage in the division and the best winning percentage in the entire AL.

"Maybe they won't get in it," said the manager of the Boston Red Sox. "Who knows? Crazy things happen in this game."

In the ESPNNewYork.com article, he went on to say that his Boston club could win the division. And when asked about one of the two wild card spots (the Red Sox are four games out, as it stands), the first-year Red Sox skipper said he hadn't considered it.

"I haven't looked at it that way," he answered. "No, no. ... We play a lot of games against the Yankees."