TORONTO – The path to the postseason increased for the Red Sox the instant chief baseball officer Craig Breslow traded four prospects to the White Sox for Garrett Crochet at last December’s Winter Meetings in Dallas.

So perhaps it was only fitting that in Crochet’s final start of the regular season on Wednesday night at Rogers Centre, the ace lefty put the Red Sox on the verge of punching their ticket to October for the first time in four years.

Backed by Crochet’s latest sparkling performance, which sparked his team’s 7-1 victory over the Blue Jays, Boston (87-71) could clinch an American League Wild Card spot as early as Thursday.

Any combination of wins by the Red Sox and losses by the Astros equaling two will do the trick for manager Alex Cora’s club.

By the time Crochet’s

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