BOSTON — The Yankees found themselves a season-high 8 ½ games back of the Red Sox in the AL East and even the ever-optimistic Aaron Boone acknowledged their place in the division.

“I understand we’re in a tough spot,’’ Boone said before the series finale against the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Sunday night. “But I also understand and really believe that our guys know they’re really good. I know we’re really capable of doing special things. Obviously, from the division standpoint, we’re gonna have to play a pretty lights-out brand of baseball. That’s apparent. But I don’t put that past us.”

The first three games at Fenway certainly made it appear that it’s past them.

It took the Yankees less than three weeks to catch Boston when they trailed by 7 ½ games in April, but that was helped by a 16-1 stretch, which happened right after Gleyber Torres came up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

These days, the Yankees needed to have Chance Adams make his MLB debut on Saturday and will be without Aaron Judge (wrist) and Gary Sanchez (groin) until late this month at the earliest.

Despite the team’s recent struggles, which found it 18-19 since June 22 as play began Sunday, Boone has kept up a calm demeanor that he said was important over the long haul of a season.

“I hope they look at me as emotionally stable and understand I’m gonna be consistent and — in a lot of ways — the same guy every single day,’’ Boone said.

The rookie manager met with the team prior to the All-Star break, but has no plans to do so again anytime soon, even though the gap between the Yankees and the Red Sox has widened considerably since they started July in a first-place tie.

“I don’t feel that need,” Boone said. “If I sense that our guys weren’t preparing right or we’re struggling in different situations, [I would]. I really think their focus is good and they’re able to turn the page. I have no issue.”

And if they are going to make another run to challenge Boston, it won’t happen overnight.

That includes an offense that looked mostly overmatched Friday against Rick Porcello and again Saturday versus ex-Yankee Nathan Eovaldi, when it combined for two runs.

“[On Friday] we hit 10 balls over 100 mph after we scored seven runs on Thursday,’’ hitting coach Marcus Thames said of the game against Porcello. “And [Saturday], Eovaldi pitched a good game. Sometimes you go through a rut.”

Still, no big adjustments were coming.

“I want my guys to stay aggressive,’’ Thames said. “You don’t want to change anything because our approach has been solid. We’re just in one of those funks. It [stinks], but you keep pounding. We’ll be fine. I’m not worried about them at all.”

Instead of being focused on their slide down the standings, Boone said he has “to keep the big picture in mind. You’ve got to be able to protect them and over the course of a long season, be able to keep these guys fresh to where we’re able to be good over the long haul. It’s a delicate balance you try to strike every night.”