Does Yankees’ Hal Steinbrenner back Aaron Boone?

Yankees manager Aaron Boone and his team will go into Friday with a 1 1/2-game lead over the A’s for the top Wild Card spot.

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Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner has manager Aaron Boone‘s back, even with the team’s deep funk threatening their right to host the American League Wild Card Game, according to a report from the New York Post’s George King.

From the report:

“Aaron Boone has done a good job dealing with all these moving parts and certainly has the respect of the players … Overall we have been happy with the choice.”

Our Aaron Boone report card

The Yankees will wake up Friday morning 1 1/2 games ahead of the Athletics for the top Wild Card spot. The leader gets to play the game in their home park Oct. 3.

Oakland lost to the Orioles on Thursday while the Yankees had off.

The Yankees have lost nine of their last 16 games and are just 28-23 since the All-Star break.

The Yankees will start a three-game set with the fourth-place Blue Jays on Friday.

Then things get a bit tougher.

First-place Boston will visit the Bronx following Monday’s off day for three games and then the last-place O’s show up for three games.

The Yankees will finish the season with a difficult six-game road trip

For four games, they’ll visit the Rays, who hold the season series over them, 8-7. And then they will finish the season with three games in Boston.

Meanwhile, the A’s will travel to Tampa Bay for three games starting Friday before ending the year against four also-rans: the Angels, the Twins, the Mariners and then the Angels again.

Here’s some info from the Yankees regarding the upcoming homestand:

The Yankees will honor left-handed pitcher CC Sabathia as the team’s nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award with a pregame ceremony prior to the team’s Friday, Sept. 14 game vs. Toronto.

On Saturday, Sept. 15, the Yankees will host the Staten Island Little League team that participated in this year’s Little League World Series, advancing to the U.S. Finals. Prior to the scheduled 4:05 p.m. Yankees-Blue Jays game, members of the team will take the field with the Yankees for the national anthem.

Prior to the Tues., Sept. 18 game vs. Boston, the Yankees will celebrate the United States Air Force’s 71st birthday. Members of the USAF will be on hand to present the colors and take part in the national anthem. On Wed., Sept. 19, Haley Swindal – currently starring as Heather in Sistas the Musical at St. Luke’s Theatre in Manhattan – will perform the national anthem prior to the game vs. Boston.

In an effort to provide fans with increased opportunities to watch the Yankees take batting practice, Gates 6 and 8 will open at 4:00 p.m. on Fri., Sept. 14 and Fri., Sept. 21. Guests entering the park at that time will be able to view batting practice from the Bleachers and 100 Level outfield sections of the Stadium.

Additionally, guests should note that both Sat., Sept. 14 and Sat., Sept. 22 games feature a 4:05 p.m. scheduled start time, with all Stadium gates set to open at 2:00 p.m.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.