Doing the math: Can the Yankees make the playoffs?

With the Yankees coming off a crushing three-game sweep at the hands of the Los Angeles Anaheim Angles, with the Yankees reeling--2-5 on their current road trip, 4-6 in their last 10, and 5-10 after going 8-0 coming out of the All-Star Break--with the Yankees 8.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays Rays in the AL East and four behind the Boston Red Sox and 2.5 behind the Minnesota Twins in the Wild Card race, it's a good time to look at the Bronx Bombers' remaining schedule and how they might fare in those remaining series.

Now with the future so bleak, the Rays and Red Sox so far ahead of them and playing so well--8-2 in their last 10 for the Rays, 6-4 for the Sox--while the Yankees struggle, we'll give the Yankees the benefit of the doubt in these games to give them the best record that can reasonbly be expected at season's end.

Aug 11-13, 3 at Minnesota Twins: 2-1

Aug 15-17, 3 vs Kansas City Royals: 3-0

Aug 19-21. 3 at Toronto Blue Jays, 1-2

Aug 22-24, 3 at Baltimore Orioles: 2-1

Aug 26-28, 3 vs Boston Red Sox: 2-1

Aug 29-31, 3 vs Toronto Blue Jays: 2-1

Sept 1, 1 at Detroit Tigers (makeup game from May 11): 1-0

Sept 2-4, 3 at Tampa Bay: 1-2

Sept 5-7, 3 at Seattle: 2-1

Sept 8-10, 3 at Los Angles Angels: 0-3

Sept 12-14, 3 vs Tampa Bay: 2-1

Sept 15-18, 4 vs Chicago White Sox: 3-1

Sept 19-21, 3 vs Baltimore: 3-0

Sept 23-25, 3 at Toronto: 2-1

Sept 26-27, 3 at Boston: 1-2

Total: 27-17

Add that to their current 64-55 record, and the Yankees will finish the season at 90-72.

In order for the Yankees to just tie for the division at season's end, the Rays will have to go 19-26 the rest of the way.

And for the Yankees to tie for the Wild Card, the Red Sox will have to go 23-21, and Minnesota will have to go 25-20.

The Wild Card is still plausible, but the Yankees will need both the Red Sox and the Twins to play significantly worse than they've played to this point; the Yankees will need a team that's currently 16 games over .500 to play just two games over .500 for the rest of the season, and a team that's 13 games over .500 to play five games over .500.  And even if that happens, the Yankees, eight games over .500 to this point, will have to play over their heads and go 10 games over .500 for the duration of the season.

The division, however, is done.  The Tampa Bay Rays, with an 8.5 game lead over the third-place Yankees in the division, even if they falter, will not play seven games under .500--not when they've played 25 games over .500 to this point, good for the second-best record in the American League behind the Angels.

Really, all the Yankees can realistically hope for is to leapfrog Minnesota and whittle the defecit to Boston down to three games by September 26, and then go into Fenway and handle their business three straight games and then also in a one-game playoff.

But realistically, what the Yankees need is to forget about the math; math is for fans, not for players.  The Yankees don't need a certain record, they need a win.  Every single day, they need a win.  They have to go out there every single day and just outplay the team in the other dugout, whoever it might be.  The Yankees need to win games.

Unfortuantely, they haven't been doing that too often.