BOSTON — Had things worked out differently Drew Hutchison Jersey , Noah Syndergaard would be pitching four or five times a season against the Boston Red Sox.But on Dec. 12, 2012, the Toronto Blue Jays, in the American League East with Boston, included the former first-round draft pick in a mega deal to the New York Mets that brought defending Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey to Canada.Friday night, Syndergaard makes the second appearance of his major league career against Boston when he tries to cool off the sizzling Red Sox in the opener of a three-game series at Fenway Park.Article continues below ...Thursday night, the Red Sox finished off a three-game sweep of Syndergaard’s old team with a 4-3 win at Fenway, Boston’s 101st victory of this special season. They reduced their magic number for clinching the East to six over (the New York Yankees were idle Thursday).The Red Sox, who finished 15-4 against Toronto, are 101-46 and need just five wins in their last 15 games to break the franchise record for victories.J.D. Martinez hit his 41st homer and Craig Kimbrel earned his 40th save Thursday, making him the fourth pitcher with five 40-save seasons.Hector Velazquez, who has been an invaluable utility man on the Boston pitching staff, makes his eighth start of the season for the Red Sox. He is 2-2 with a 4.00 ERA as a starter, 7-2 with a 3.29 overall.In Syndergaard’s last start, he was hit in the ribs with a line drive to cap a game that saw him allow 12 hits and four runs while walking five and raising his record to 11-3 (3.44 ERA). The start before that, he pitched the first complete game of his career, a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts at San Francisco.He is 3-0 in his last four starts and brings a 4-3 record and 4.45 interleague ERA into the game.The Red Sox have reached the 100-win mark for only the fourth time in their history — the first time since 1946 (1912 and ’15 were the others). The first three such seasons were in 154 games and this year’s team got No. 100 in its 146th game.Before Thursday’s game, manager Alex Cora Larry Bowa Jersey , addressing the uncertainty of his bullpen setting up Kimbrel, said he may well use a group effort in the postseason.“No, I think we need versatility, guys that can match up with whoever we’re facing,” he said. “Fastballs up, breaking balls, slider, I think that’s the most important thing. You guys saw earlier in the season how we’re going with Joe (Kelly) and (Matt) Barnesy, and now that things are going this way, you see it with (Bobby) Poyner getting switch-hitters out and lefties.“You see (Ryan) Brasier coming in in the sixth inning or pitch in the eighth. It’s about who can get people out and how can we match up with whoever we play. That’s the most important thing. Obviously, those decisions will happen before we play (the American League Wild Card Game) or we play the Division Series. We’ll look at the matchups we like and the matchups we can exploit and we can go from there.”Boston opens a six-game New York/New York run this weekend — the Mets in for three before the Red Sox visit the Yankees for three next week. They could clinch the division on the field of their main rivals.The Mets come in with a three-game winning streak, including a double-header sweep of the Miami Marlins Thursday — on the day the emotional Mets captain David Wright met the media to essentially discuss the end of his career.Wright, who hasn’t played in a game since 2016, will be activated Sept. 25 for the final Mets homestand and then start against the Marlins on the 29th. Retirement is almost certain after that because of his numerous physical problems.“The way I feel right now and from everything the doctors have told me, there’s not going to be an improvement,” Wright said when asked if he could play again next season. “So, yeah, I don’t see that as a possibility.”Sunday’s game is set as a matchup of Chris Sale and Jacob deGrom. But Sale is slated to pitch a maximum of just three innings as he works his way back from shoulder inflammation. deGrom is the favorite to win the National League Cy Young despite his 8-9 record (1.71 ERA and little offensive support) http://www.philliesfanproshop.com/authentic-jim-bunning-jersey , while Sale was on track to win his first Cy in the American League before getting hurt — twice.Eduardo Nunez suffered a sore right knee Thursday and is considered day to day. He will not play for Boston Friday night. Jim McIsaac/Getty ImagesThe 2018MLB playoff field is nearly set.All five American League teams and three of the five National League teams have clinched a spot. That leaves the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Dodgers fighting for the NL West title and the whoever loses out on the division crown battling with the St. Louis Cardinals for the second NL wild-card spot.Also still up for grabs is the right to host the AL Wild Card Game and the NL Central title, as the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers are separated by just a half game.Here's a look at how the playoff field would line up if the season ended Wednesday, as well as some updated World Series odds:Current Playoff MatchupsAmerican LeagueWild Card Game: (WC2) Oakland Athletics at (WC1) New York YankeesALDS: (1) Boston Red Sox vs. (WC) New York Yankees/Oakland AthleticsALDS: (2) Houston Astros vs. (3) Cleveland IndiansNational LeagueWild Card Game: (WC2) Los Angeles Dodgers at (WC1) Milwaukee BrewersNLDS: (1) Chicago Cubs vs. (WC) Los Angeles Dodgers/Milwaukee BrewersNLDS: (2) Atlanta Braves vs. (3) Colorado RockiesOdds to Win 2018 World SeriesChris SaleAdam Glanzman/Getty ImagesBoston Red Sox: 3-1Houston Astros: 7-2Los Angeles Dodgers: 11-2Chicago Cubs: 15-2Cleveland Indians: 8-1New York Yankees: 12-1Atlanta Braves: 12-1Oakland Athletics: 15-1Milwaukee Brewers: 18-1Colorado Rockies: 30-1St. Louis Cardinals: 30-1Odds courtesy of OddsSharkand last updated Tuesday. OverviewBob Levey/Getty ImagesThe Red Sox have won a franchise-record 107 games, so it's no surprise to see them listed as the World Series favorite.Paced by a high-powered offense that leads the majors in batting average (.268), OPS (.791), runs (855) and runs per game (5.38), the Red Sox also have a dangerous starting staff and one of the best closers in baseball.Chris Sale (12-4, 2.11 ERA) and David Price (16-7, 3.58 ERA) form a lethal one-two punch atop the rotation, while Craig Kimbrel (42/47 SV, 2.79 ERA, 13.7 K/9) can slam the door with the best of them.Of course, the defending champion Astros will have something to say about the AL side of things.Houston leads the majors in starters' ERA (3.20) and team ERA (3.13), and a playoff rotation of Justin Verlander (16-9, 2.60 ERA), Gerrit Cole (15-5 2.92 ERA), Charlie Morton (15-3, 3.18 ERA) and Dallas Keuchel (12-11 Jim Thome Jersey , 3.75 ERA) is going to be awfully tough.The Yankees lead the majors in home runs (256), the Indians are the first team in MLB history to have four pitchers reach 200 strikeouts in a season, and the A's have the best record in baseball (41-21) since the All-Star break.In other words, don't count anyone out in the American League.The Dodgers are still trying to win their division, yet they're pegged as the favorites on the NL side.Walker Buehler could be a huge X-factor for the Dodgers this postseason.Rob Leiter/Getty ImagesA 10-4 record in their last 14 games gives them some welcome momentum, and with the starting staff of Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, Rich Hill and Hyun-Jin Ryu all pitching well right now, there's no question they're dangerous.Likewise, the Cubs are still trying to lock down a division title over the streaking Brewers.With a 3-4 record in their last seven games and a bullpen that's leaking like a sieve, this isn't the same Cubs team we've seen in recent seasons, but their combination of talent and experience could be enough to flip the switch in October.This is uncharted territory for the upstart Braves, but they've had the luxury of clinching their spot well in advance, which has given them time to rest up and properly line up their playoff rotation. They'll go as far as Mike Foltynewicz and Kevin Gausman atop the staffcan carry them.The Rockies and Cardinals are still duking it out for the final wild-card spot, and both teams have been playing extremely well since the All-Star break.It looks like whoever captures the NL pennant this year is going to have their work cut out for them against whichever club emerges from the AL race, but anything can happen in October.All stats courtesy of Baseball Referenceand accurate through Wednesday.