You won’t need to wake me up when September ends, because the stretch run of the 2024 MLB season — especially involving the two New York teams — promises to greatly shape the playoffs in October.

Largely on the strength of the lethal offensive combination of MVP front-runner Aaron Judge and pending free agent Juan Soto, the Yankees (78-56) own the best record in the American League, albeit just 1 ½ games ahead of Baltimore in the AL East after the Orioles lost late Thursday night to the Dodgers out west.

With three games remaining in the season series between the rivals slated for Sept. 24-26 in The Bronx, the AL East winner is in position to would land a coveted bye and thereby avoid the wild-card round. The top two division champs will bypass the best-of-three crapshoot, even if this format is more fair than the previous one-game setup in effect from 2012-2021.

We’ve talked all season about the Yankees’ various holes in the bullpen and in the lineup beyond Judge and Soto, but it’s incredibly important for Aaron Boone to push his flawed squad to hold off the Orioles over their final 28 games to capture what would be just the franchise’s third divisional title in the past dozen seasons.