Last Call for Yankees

There’s no hiding it anymore. The New York Yankees are a desperate team that needs two things to qualify for the playoffs or face the ignomy (even though it shouldn’t be ignominious) of not making the postseason for the first time since 1993. The Yankees need to win first and foremost. Second, they need help from other teams. Clearly, only the first option is under their control. The Yankees need perfection from here on out and what better way to start that than against division leaders Tampa Bay. A three game sweep of the Rays would not only help their chances but boost their confidence enormously as well. It is far too much to hope for first place in the division so they need to win while the Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins lose and drop out of wild car contention. If they can keep winning and if Boston struggles they will have a chance to pull the Wild Card rug out from underneath the Red Sox during the end of the season matchup between the two. Tonight, Mike Mussina of the Yankees will start against Tampa Bay's Matt Garza. Game time is 7:10 EDT.