NEW YORK — The Red Sox are playing better.

Time for them to start thinking bigger.

Capturing the AL East crown is not enough.

It’s a start, but the prize the team needs to strive for is best record in the American League.

Suddenly, it’s within their reach.

The Houston Astros are all that stand in the Red Sox’ way of retaining home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs (except for a potential World Series matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are about to lap the field with their 83 wins).

Once upon a time, back at the All-Star break, the Astros held a 60-29 record, just one fewer than Los Angeles.

Both teams looked as if they were about to take off.

Those 60 Astros wins were 10 more than the Red Sox’ total.

That meant that the four-game series at Fenway Park that closes out both clubs’ 2017 schedule in late September was going to be a chance for the Astros to rest their regulars and line up their rotation for the playoffs.

Now, not so much.

The Astros did snap their season-worst five-game losing streak yesterday, but the victory does not obscure the fact that the team is scuffling like it has at no other point in the season. Their record this month is 3-9, and since the break they have gone 12-16.

There are a few reasons for the Astros’ recent decline. Injuries are a big one.

Lance McCullers, an All-Star and their second-best starter, is out indefinitely with a back issue.

Shortstop Carlos Correa tore a thumb ligament last month and is expected back sometime next month.

Catcher/DH Evan Gettis has a concussion.

Their record is 72-45.

With last night’s 3-2 win in 10 innings against the New York Yankees, the Red Sox are at 67 wins, meaning they have shaved off half of the Astros’ lead in less than a month.

That’s not bad.

The question to ask, then, is with a month and a half to go, can the Red Sox do better?

Can they not only take care of business in the AL East but maintain their recent caliber of play over their next 41 games before they can make those final four games at the end of the season against the Astros actually matter?

The answer’s a qualified yes.

No team will waste the opportunity to make up ground by capitalizing on another team’s problems or injuries whenever they can. It’s fortunate for the Red Sox’ cause that they have regained their footing at the same time that the Astros have lost theirs. But the latter half of that equation — the Astros’ slump — is hardly a formula for success the Red Sox can rely upon.

What we are all about to discover is whether or not the Red Sox have finally learned to trust in their own talent and abilities to mount a sustained stretch of winning that makes them look as invincible as the Astros once looked.

For most of this season, the Red Sox have excelled in microbursts of excellence and ineptitude that evened out into a muddled and mediocre record. Since late June they were mostly able to maintain a lead in the AL East, but it always felt tenuous.

But ever since tonight’s starter Doug Fister turned himself around, starter Eduardo Rodriguez got healthy, rookie third baseman Rafael Devers got called up and infielder Eduardo Nunez and reliever Addison Reed joined the one-sound band, the Red Sox have started to kick themselves into a higher, smoother gear.

Their eight-game winning streak that ended Friday felt genuine.

The Red Sox can pitch, they’re starting to hit and they’ve always played solid defense, so there is no mirage principle in play.

One facet to the team’s turnaround is that it’s happening for the most part without second baseman Dustin Pedroia (knee) or starter David Price (forearm, elbow). The return of each veteran is shrouded in a bit of mystery, but the urgency has been lessened by how well the team is playing.

Not much has come easy this season. The Red Sox have been dealing with adversity almost from the start, and while they went through spells of going nowhere, they appear to be going places now.

The Astros added reliever Tyler Clippard in a trade with the Chicago White Sox last night and still have a comfortable lead (12 games) in the AL West. Nobody believes they will lose that lead, but they are battling with their first extended encounter with uncertainty. Their best-in-the-league record that once looked like a lock to carry wire-to-wire now appears vulnerable.

The Red Sox have a better shot than anybody to catch up to and surpass the Astros.

From here on out, that needs to be their one and only goal.

It’s doable.