What a Difference a Day Makes in Mercurial AL East Playoff Chase

Before yesterdays game in Yankee Universe, it was all gloom and doom, because the Red Sox were only 4.5 games back of the Yankees and Rays. They are catching up to the Yankees, and due to the Yankees lackluster play all season, and especially of late, the Yankees have allowed the Red Sox to stay in the race.

In Red Sox nation, people were ready to crown the Red Sox AL East champions, even though they were still 4.5 games behind the first place Yankees and Rays.

Today, it is the complete opposite. The Yankee Universe has its swagger back, while it is all gloom and doom in Red Sox nation.

Newsflash: There is still a ton of baseball left to play.

First, credit needs to be given when credit is due. Even though the Red Sox have had a flurry of injuries, seemingly all to their best players, they have been playing great baseball all season long.

If a team is playing good baseball, regardless of how many injuries they have, or whichever team is in their division, it does not matter. They are a tough team, and they will not go away.

The Yankees have been playing consistently good baseball all season long, only suffering a cold patch in May, and now in August. Good teams struggle, and the loss of Andy Pettitte, Alex Rodriguez and the under performance of the starting rotation does not help.

But, the Yankees are still in first place, and they still are tied with the best record in the league. They will get hot again, and everything will seem right again as well.

Being the passionate sports fans that we are, it is only natural to fly off the handle over one day.  I'll admit, I did a little bit too yesterday, but after I took a breath and looked at the bigger picture, it was a little easier to stomach.

Again, baseball is 162 games. I'll end this the way I started it. "You can't predict baseball" for a reason. The season is far from over, and it is realistic to say that the Red Sox will gain ground on the Yankees, and the Yankees will pull away from the Red Sox from now until October 3rd. This also means that we will have more days like today and yesterday.

Steve Henn is the author of the baseball blog RI Baseball Beat.

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