Yankees sneaking up on Rays in AL East standings has an 'Obsession'-style Red Sox twist

Any New York fan who, in early June, cracked their One Wish Willow and said, "I would do literally anything for the Knicks to win the NBA Championship" is probably sitting around these days going, "Huh. Oh. Still worth it, but ... oh."

Some individual baseball games are more important than others. Some losses are "just one regular season game"; some are more than that, and fans who know how to heed warnings also typically know how to act accordingly. The Yankees' Sunday Night Baseball loss to the Boston Red Sox, with a two-run lead in the 10th inning, has been the most important individual baseball game of the season for three-plus weeks now. The Sox followed that roaring, immediate comeback by losing a three-game set to the Washington Nationals, then winning 14 straight and counting. The Yankees have been bad, but not that bad during the corresponding stretch. They've been normal bad since getting swept by the Tigers at home, carrying an 8-9 record during a difficult portion of their schedule.

They've still seen seven games hacked off their lead over the Sox, and while Boston helped the Yankees draw closer to the suddenly reeling Rays this past weekend, it came with the "Obsession"-like realization that praying on the Rays' downfall came with a very dark reality burbling behind them.

In other words, why are the Red Sox shuffling around my house holding a potted plant over their faces?

Yankees have vaulted up AL East Standings during difficult schedule, but at what cost?

The New York Yankees' schedule is unrelenting, with road series in Philadelphia, Chicago (White Sox) and Chicago (Cubs) on the horizon before any reinforcements are likely to arrive. This is the portion of the Yankees' season where the roster is undermanned and in desperate need of saving, and while Shea Langeliers/Hunter Goodman and two bullpen arms could be walking through that door (is Angel Chivilli a guy?), they certainly aren't yet.

Conversely, building the Red Sox must be the easiest task in the world. Collect 26 assorted men and put them into those magical uniforms. Let stars walk and replace them with the most random ex-Yankees you could ever imagine, like Anthony Seigler and Caleb Durbin, who are better than Alex Bregman and Trevor Story. The world is your oyster! What if the Sox had signed Pete Alonso instead of traded for Willson Contreras? It wouldn't matter; Alonso would be the one screaming, "This is my f***ing HOME!" from second base, and they'd all be wearing some t-shirt about some meme-able moment he'd had weeks ago (it would say, "The MAN eats the meatloaf!" or something equally inane).

And now, just as the Rays are slowing down a bit, the Sox are turbocharged, winning nine straight on the road entering the break against the Angels, White Sox, and Mets (aided by a Francisco Lindor shouldv'e-been-game-ending error), then coming home and wiping the Rays and Orioles off the field for five games. It's historic. It's unsustainable, but that's not an insult. They may never be this good again, but only because that's impossible. They're officially a threat, and while they did the Yankees a solid over the weekend in turning down Tampa Bay's flame, that felt a little bit like a cursed outcome from a horror movie about a haunted doll who can make you young forever, where the alternative is more horrid than you could possibly imagine.

And so the Yankees, who've played slightly better of late, and have split the first four with the Dodgers and Pirates since the All-Star Game, don't have a single second to catch their breath before the trade deadline, without Aaron Judge for many months to come. Hey — at least it's not the Blue Jays charging behind them ... yet.

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This article was originally published on yanksgoyard.com as Yankees sneaking up on Rays in AL East standings has an 'Obsession'-style Red Sox twist.