Bleeding Yankee Blue: THE YANKS & THE LONG, HARD SWALLOW

Photo Credit: David L. Pokress

OK, everyone. Take a long, hard swallow of the strongest beverage you can stomach and repeat after Jack...

Now that THAT'S out of the way, let's not dwell on what a kick in the gut getting swept by Cleveland was. Or on how awful it felt watching our boys put it all together for their first back-to-back series wins in months only to give it all right back again and then some.

Or on how frustrating it was to see them drop three games further back in the division race in only half the time it took them to make up two and a half games on Boston -- the leader of the pack by 5.5 games now and their opponent for the next four games.

Photo: Getty Images

Another sweep and they'd be facing an almost insurmountable 8.5 game deficit with 26 games left to play on September 4th.

For some perspective, a comeback of that dimension would require both a hotter winning pace by the Yankees the rest of the way than they displayed in the season's first half AND a bigger choke from Boston than their record-setting 2011 tank job that saw them eviscerate a nine-game lead on September 1st by losing 20 of their remaining 27 games.

Photo: Getty Images

So for the Yankees, the looming four-game series is no longer a juicy opportunity to overtake their rival to the north. It's now a battle to remain in contention and avoid getting blown out of the race -- and they know it.

“At this point, you’re going to be able to say those are the most important games of the season because we won’t run into them and [because of] where we are in the standings,” said Joe Girardi, who's usually the master of painting smiley faces on fugly situations.

Photo: Getty Images

“The calendar’s going to flip to a new month here pretty soon and we’re running out of time to catch those guys,” added the eternal optimist Brett Gardner.

And speaking of "running out of time to catch," the league decision on the timing of suspension appeal hearings for the team's entire major league catching contingent should drop anytime now.

More good news on the way there too, no doubt.

When it comes though, just remember to swallow hard and repeat what Jack said -- unless you're not a drinker. Or prefer to simply hope for the best.

If that's the case, Jack's got another line tailor-made for you.