The Red Sox are in the driver’s seat. It doesn’t happen very often in this part, but here we are. Barring a total collapse, Boston is poised to return to the post-season for the first time since 1999.

And it will take a total collapse for the Sox to blow their shot at the playoffs. Yes, the division is out of reach. Boston will finish as runner-up to New York for the sixth straight year, extending a major-league record. This has been a wild ride, and it’s appropriate that it should end in a wild-card berth.

After today’s finale with Chicago, the Sox play out the final fortnight with games against Tampa Bay, Cleveland, and Baltimore. Those three teams entered the weekend a combined 60 games under .500. All three teams are capable of being a thorn in Boston’s side, but if the Red Sox let that happen they don’t deserve to be in the playoffs, anyway.

Grady Little’s crew got to this point by virtue of a remarkable 7-2 road trip that kicked off September. The Sox hit Philadelphia on Labor Day after losing two of three to the Yankees. They were dealing with the potentially divisive Manny Ramirez situation. And they blew an eighth-inning lead to the Phillies. Things looked bleak.

Then they scored six in the ninth, while Manny watched. A day later, he was benched. And, suddenly, this team came together.

“We want to play into October and reverse the curse,” said centerfielder Johnny Damon after the final game of the road trip. Now that’s forward thinking.

Don’t think this team is counting its post-season chickens just yet. Ask Little about what teams are hot right now, and he flips to chapter one of the Coach Speak Manual.

“I’d have to say the Red Sox,” said Little. “You know who else is playing well? Tampa Bay.”

That’s the last-place Devil Rays, a team the Sox face seven times over the next two weeks. Anyone order a dose of motivation?

It’s not quite time to set up the post-season rotation just yet. This is Red Sox Nation, and we know better. Still, the Wild Card is within the Sox grasp. The Mariners face Oakland six times before the end of the season, and if those teams split those games someone’s going to have to play nearly flawless baseball over the other seven games. Even if the Mariners swept the six games with Oakland, the A’s would have a hard time catching the Sox in that scenario.

“You can’t get ahead of yourselves,” said Little. He’s right; his players can’t. But fans can, and many already have. Who’s your Game 3 starter, Wakefield or Burkett? The starting pitching has settled in very well, and that bodes well in a five-game first-round series.

The bullpen is still a big issue, one that should be addressed over the next two weeks. Scott Sauerbeck is on the verge of not making the post-season roster, while Scott Williamson and Byung-Hyun Kim need to find their confidence again and fast.

Yes, the Sox have to take care of business over the next 14 days. Even with a struggling bullpen, they should have no problem doing that. Summer’s almost over, and the Sox are in the hunt. Autumn doesn’t get any better than this.