We're getting down to the wire, lovelies, and the Yanks appear to have reverted back to their old "we cannot win a game unless we totally obliterate the team by scoring like 234902 runs in the first 2 innings" ways at precisely the wrong time. It goes without saying (although clearly here I am saying it anyway, oh well) that there is simply no more margin for error at this point in the season. There are no more "we'll get 'em tomorrow" or "we've still got time to make up ground" excuses to assuage our worries.
It is offically Do Or Die time. This team must win a huge majority of the remaining games - literally about 75% - and also hope for a slowdown from Seattle (honestly, have they replaced those dudes with some special baseball robots?! How the f*ck do they keep winning?!) and some kind of
curse/failure/plaugue to be cast upon the Sox to remain competitive in the division or wildcard race.
The good news - hear me out on this one - is that
we've still got 6 games to play against Boston. Perhaps that doesn't sound particularly promising, but consider this: if the Yankees are able to win 4, 5 or (please) 6 of those games, they not only gain ground (obviously) but simultaneously
knock a chunk of confidence off Boston's inflated head (Balco B-sized, except metaphorically) and put some fire back into their own game, too. The games against Boston will be particularly
mission-critical because the Yankees will have the unique opportunity to crush a bit of Boston's spirit if they can manage to
humiliate them at all. Recall, if you will, the
glorious 5-game sweep the Yanks executed last August, and the demoralization of the Sox that ensued. Of course that was last year and the lineups and injury situations were different, but at that point in the season the Red Sox were still considered contenders going into the series. After losing those games, the Sox's (Sox= an un-grammar-able word) season was essentially over. It's obviously very unlikely that even a sweep would
rock the Sox so much so that they would break down and blow the whole season, but series wins would certainly give the Yanks a
much-needed boost in self-confidence... hopefully enough to surge through their series in Seattle and into that wildcard spot.
Here are the expected pitching matchups for the Sawx series:
Tuesday 8/28 7:05pm: Dice K (13-9, 3.76) vs Andy Pettitte (11-9, 3.69)
Wednesday 8/29 7:05pm: Becket (16-5, 3.21) vs Rocket (5-5, 4.34)
Thursday 8/30* 1:05pm: Schilling (8-5, 4.11) vs Wangster (15-6, 3.95)
At least we've got our best boys out there - if I had to look at Moose pitch one more inning I think I would smash my skull into a brick wall.
*The Yankees Chick's birthday! A sweep by the Yanks would be an excellent present... 
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Farewell and thanks for the support.