Maybe it's slightly hysterical to say so, but the New York Yankees probably ought to win a game or two over the next three nights if they expect to:

A) Run down the Boston Red Sox.

B) Stay with the Baltimore Orioles.

C) Fend off the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

D) Keep Joe Girardi in the broadcast booth and off the bench.

E) Avert Armageddon.

The Yankees open a three-game series with the Red Sox tonight at the Stadium with all of New York leaning in. They are, of course, 10 1/2 games back, that close because Tyler Clippard saved them last night in Queens.

Their list of worries these days include:

• Jason Giambi, who has one hit in his last 26 at-bats, picked now to come clean on his steroids use, and is fighting bone spurs in his left heel.

• Alex Rodriguez, whose MVP April has given way to an October-ish May.

• Johnny Damon's calf.

• Robinson Cano's bat and glove.

• Mariano Rivera's ERA.

• The Red Sox, second in the AL in runs, third in starters' ERA and first in bullpen ERA. Not a lot of holes there.

Roger Clemens will start Wednesday night, but in Trenton, N.J. and not in the Bronx, and against the Red Sox' Double-A affiliate and not the Red Sox' major-league squad. If all goes well, he could pitch next Monday night in Toronto, then the following weekend in Boston.

Meantime, the Yankees seemingly are at a good place in their rotation. They'll throw Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte at the Red Sox, who counter with Tim Wakefield, Julian Tavarez and Curt Schilling.

But, they're also at a place in which they've lost seven of 10, along with 4 1/2 more games in the standings. They haven't gained a game on the Red Sox since May 5, and the Red Sox haven't lost a series since losing two in a row to the Blue Jays on April 23-24.

If the Yankees are clinging to anything, it is their climb back from a 6 1/2-game deficit in the AL East two Mays ago. They were 11-19 on May 6, 2005, won their next 10 in a row, and ended the season 95-67, tied with the Red Sox and with their eighth of nine consecutive division titles. Exhausted, they lost the division series in five games to the Los Angeles Angels.

FIVE ...

• Line of the weekend comes from Sunday's game in Boston: Andruw Jones 5 0 0 0. Batting in the sixth spot between left fielder Matt Diaz (5 0 4 1) and catcher Brian McCann (3 0 2 0), Jones struck out five times -- against Kason Gabbard in the second and fourth, Brendan Donnelly in the sixth, Hideki Okajima in the eighth, and Jonathan Papelbon to end the game with two runners on in the Atlanta Braves' 6-3 loss. Jones is conducting an interesting walk year, batting .212 and on pace to strike out almost 200 times, yet with 30 RBI already.

• The Philadelphia Phillies could have first baseman Ryan Howard back on Friday, when they open a three-game series in Atlanta. A bum quad was at least partially responsible for Howard's 29 games post-MVP, in which he hit .204 and was striking out in more than a third of his at-bats. In 10 games without Howard, the Phillies have won seven times and scored 5.1 runs per game.

• In case you're keeping track, the Yankees' rotation thus far, in order of appearance: Carl Pavano, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Kei Igawa, Darrell Rasner, Chase Wright, Jeff Karstens, Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Hughes, Matt DeSalvo and Tyler Clippard. That's 11, five of whom had not pitched in the majors before Torre handed them a baseball.

• Bernie Williams, the commencement speaker at Iona College's graduation ceremony Sunday at Madison Square Garden, now has an honorary doctorate in humane letters. I don't know what that means, but it could be he's now qualified to put the Yankees out of their misery.

• The Chicago Cubs are toying with the notion of turning closer Ryan Dempster into a starter and giving the ninth inning to Angel Guzman. The conversion has already gotten clumsy, with Dempster having been penciled in to start against the Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend, then being penciled out and, well, they'll get back to us on this.

... AND FLY

David Ortiz, to the Boston media, on his way to New York: "We don't need to worry about anybody. Everyone needs to worry about us."