After Wednesday’s 6-2 Yankee loss to the Twins I heard the same line over and over again in the press box: “Well, you want to win the first two because Santana’s going on Wednesday…win again on Thursday and that’s the best you can expect — three out of four.” Well, that’s just what happened as the Yanks won yesterday afternoon on the strength of Hideki Matsui’s two-run homer.

They now sit at 40-42, 12 games out in the American League East behind Boston. It seems like an impossible task which makes the 8.5 games they trail in the wild card race that much more appealing. But make no mistake about it, if the 2007 Bombers are going to the playoffs, the road will still be through the AL East where they have won the title every year since 1998. Why? Because there are five teams between them and the wild card lead and it’s a lot more likely that Boston will get cold than those five others hunting for playoff gold. And even after winning three out of four, the Yankees are still not doing what they need to do: exceed expectations.

The Yankees will have to win those games against a Santana or any other pitcher who outclasses a Yankee starter…because to take out Boston, the Yankees will have to ‘do a lot better than you can expect’ from here on out.