MLB

Yankees face daunting task to capture AL East crown

BOSTON — Statistics are like fantasies: You can do anything you want with them. Baseball is smothered by stats. Some are valuable. Others are interesting. And some are useless.

When it comes to the Yankees and the remaining 67 games of the season, the math is ugly. The chances of catching the Red Sox for the AL East lead look slimmer than a super model.

If the 58-39 Red Sox go 33-32 the rest of the way, the 51-44 Yankees must post a 40-27 ledger to tie the AL East leaders, who host the Yankees in three games this weekend beginning tonight inside New England’s living room (aka Fenway Park).

Can a team that played .537 ball through the first 95 games play .597 in the final 67? And that may not be good enough if the Red Sox continue at a .598 pace. And don’t ignore the Rays (second place;

2 1/2 games back) and the Orioles (third place; 4 1/2 out).

Of course, that doesn’t put the Yankees out of the playoff hunt. There are two wild-card invites they can grab. In that race the Yanks are three lengths behind the 54-41 Rangers for the final spot. The 55-41 Rays are percentage points ahead of the Rangers.

Asked before the All-Star Game on Tuesday at Citi Field if the Yankees can get to October, Robinson Cano answered yes, but with a plea.

“No doubt, but if we are going to be a playoff contender we need our guys back. We need [Derek] Jeter, [Curtis] Granderson and [Alex Rodriguez]. Those guys have been in the situations before.’’

Jeter could play tonight in Boston, watch from the bench or return to the disabled list with a strained right quadriceps.

A-Rod’s minor league rehab tour continued last night for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, going 1-for-4 with his second home run in his last three games. The earliest the third baseman, who had hip surgery in January, will join the Yankees is Monday in Texas.

Granderson, who is on the disabled list with a fractured left pinkie, hasn’t progressed past taking batting practice in Tampa. Early August has been a targeted date for his return.

The Yankees believe their bats, which are hitting a .243 (14th among 15 AL teams), will get a jolt when the “Hurt Three’’ return.

“In the second half we have to get healthier and therefore better on offense or I could make a trade,’’ general manager Brian Cashman said of upgrading a team that is 14th in OPS (.684), 13th in homers (88) and 13th in OBP (.307).

The Yankees are counting on something from Jeter, Rodriguez and Granderson so much Mariano Rivera has doubts the Yankees can get into October if they don’t return.

“I don’t know, I don’t know. We have to play better,’’ Rivera said when asked if the Yankees can make the postseason if those players don’t come back. “We have to play hard and score more runs. Anything can happen.”

The Yankees were 30-18 on May 25 and on top of the AL East by one game thanks to a sensational smoke-and-mirrors act. Since then, they are 21-26 and the smoke is thin, the mirrors cracked.

According to Dustin Pedroia, it would be foolish to order caskets for the Yankees or any other team in the East.

“No, not really,’’ Pedroia said this week at Citi Field when asked if it was time to count out the Yankees. “Every team has the ability to win the division.’’

But only one club has a chance to bury the Yankees this weekend: the Red Sox.

“It’s always fun to play in that atmosphere and this will be the first time they’ve been in town. It’ll be fun,’’ Pedroia said.

— Additional reporting by Fred Kerber.

george.king@nypost.com