Should we worrying? Nine reasons the answer is... believe it or not...no.

1. We will make the playoffs. Our magic number is seven. These walk-off losses, however painful to watch, don't matter. In the pits of our souls, we know this. It's hard to manufacture passion. One earmark of the great Torre teams was that they sometimes fell into the post-season like pockfaced winos, then turned it around to win. I'm not saying that will happen now. I'm saying what we know: These losses don't matter. Think: Seven.

2. We can turn our heads and cough. Nobody is hurt. Obviously, anything can happen in the last two weeks. Remember Paulie O'Neil crashing into a foul line wall on the last week, nearly wrecking his ribs? And with Arod, NYC's newest china doll (Nomar Rodriguez?)  a routine grounder can be catastrophic. Still, our veterans, our lifeblood, should enter October healthy.

3. Our bullpen is thriving. OK, it lost for us last night. But Jose Veras Soriano struck out the side, and Robertson held the line. In another time, Mariano would have pitched the ninth. Because of historical circumstances, Joe cannot burn an inning from Rivera in a non-save situation. The Yankees floundered when Jeet was chasing 3,000. Once we get this save out of the way, we will be less distracted.

4. Boston's funk transcends ours. They've been nearing Def-Con 4. It was fun to ponder a complete collapse, but time was on their side. Even if Tampa wins the remaining two games at Fenway, the clock is running out. The bigger questions are whether Youk can play, who starts game three, and who pitches a seventh inning.

5. Detroit may, in fact, be overheating. They're playing out of their minds right now. That means a young team will play the last two weeks with nothing on the line. That's a good way to lose your edge.

6. Texas? Screw Texas. They'll be the worst of the AL teams in the playoffs, and we owe them something. Bring it on.

7. Never worry about CC. He couldn't beat Boston - and then he did. He didn't pitch well last night. So what? Unless he's hurt - nobody's given any indication of that - he's a lights out threat, one of the best. Other teams worry about CC. We don't.

8. Our rotation concerns are not unique. Boston has nobody after Beckett and Lester. Detroit has Verlander and Fister. The teams with the rotations to fear - Tampa and California - will not make the playoffs.

9. The New York football Giants are drop-dead, Rich Kottite-level, first-pick-in-the-2012-draft (unless we trade it, which we probably will) putrid. Whenever the Gints suck, the Yankees have a fighting chance.