With a 2-1 win over Oakland on Monday night, the Boston Red Sox have now won four of their last 12 games. They have fallen behind both the Yankees and the Rays in the AL East and are one more string of losses away from being out of it; considering the level of competition in their division at least. But with almost a dozen regulars out with injuries, the Red Sox are still in a surprisingly good position.

At 53-40, the Red Sox still have the fourth-best record in the American League, but with the current divisional format, that clearly does not cut it. The injuries have piled up and the Sox are doing what they can with what they have, but they’re near a breaking point. Both the Yankees and the Rays are playing extremely well, and many of Boston’s injured players will not be back anytime soon. It’s time for the next group of Sox to carry the load if this team wants to make a postseason run.

The Sox will get Josh Beckett back this week. They have scheduled him to start against the Mariners on Friday night. Beckett went on the disabled list on May 19 with a lower back strain that sidelined him much longer than expected. The 2003 World Series MVP has been gone a long time and his rehab starts have been shaky, but the Red Sox are entering a critical part of the season and if they hope to stay in the pennant race, they’ll need every bit of help they can get.

All of Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, Kevin Youkilis, Manny Delcarmen, Clay Buchholz, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jeremy Hermida, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek have gone down this year, and few of them will get back up soon. Yet the Red Sox persevere. There’s a little more than two months left in the season, and the Bosox are less than a handful of games back of both the Yankees and Rays for the division and wild card. But it’s going to take a heck of a lot more than a four-and-eight stretch to get them back into the thick of things.