WASHINGTON — The Yankees find themselves in an odd place — second-best record in the majors, but also second best in the AL East.

Before this season, Brian Cashman would have signed up for a .653 winning percentage at the All-Star break and yet that now represents the best in the division era (since 1969) not to lead a division (the previous best was the 2006 White Sox’s .648). That is because the Red Sox are at .694.

So what is a GM to think when his team is playing this well, yet potentially not well enough to avoid a one-game wild-card battle?

“I don’t complicate things by looking at it that way,” Cashman said. “I like our team a lot. It is a great group. It has had a lot of success. First and foremost, you want to make sure you punch a ticket [to the playoffs]. We did that last year as the wild card and got all the way to Game 7 of the ALCS. Then the priority is to try to win the division, which is what we are focused on. But we have had a great first half regardless of what the Red Sox did.”

They did. They are on a 106-win pace, a total they have reached a record five times: 1939 (106 wins), 1932 (107) and 1961 (109), 1927 (110) and 1998 (114). But the Red Sox are on a 112-win pace, a total reached only three times in history: those 1998 Yanks, 1906 Cubs (116) and 2001 Mariners (116).

Yet, none of Boston’s four All-Stars thinks the team is playing over its head. First baseman Mitch Moreland said, “How many do we have to win to be on a higher pace?” He said, “I do” when asked if he believes the club is playing at a level commensurate with its talent before adding: “Our goal is not a number [of wins]. It is to win the last game [of the playoffs].”

The Red Sox were 4 ¹/₂ games better than the Yankees, though they have not received much offensive production from catcher, second base, third base and center field. Their rotation with Chris Sale and some doubt behind that is similar to the Yankees and Luis Severino. And their bullpen is good, but not so good that their head of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, is not hunting for improvements in the trade market.

So there might actually be room to get even better.

“I think I am playing on a team that is playing how it is supposed to,” closer Craig Kimbrel said. “You don’t want to fall all over yourself and say you should win this way, but we have a great ball club.”