The OP is long and pointless.
The Sox hold on the 2d wild card slot is suspect because: 1) without Anthony, Sox hitting is struggling; 2) Sox pitching, a strength, has a subpar ERA of 4.44 in September; 3) the Sox final 6 games are against Detroit and Toronto, the two best teams in the AL; 4) Texas at 7-3 and Cleveland at 9-1 in their last 10 games are hot and close enough to pass the Sox in the next 12 games.
I see some hope in the fact that Texas and Cleveland also have tough games ahead. In addition, the Astros, currently the 3d wild card, are also struggling (4-6 in their last 10 games) and are about to play Texas and Seattle.
If the Sox can go 6-6 in their final 12 games, that's 88 wins and a good shot at a wild card slot. Theoretically they need to take 4/6 from the A's and Rays, and 2 of 6 from the Tigers and Jays.