If this were a World Cup, the Yankees would be advancing to the knockout round. Ten ponderings of the current reality.

 The Yankees enjoy a two-game lead (loss column) over hateful, jealous, petulant, frugal, ever-scheming Tampa, which squats in its putrid dome, awaiting the next hurricane.  

But but BUT... compared to the World Cup events, which bring gigantic walls of noise, Yank fans seem almost indifferent to the team's success. What's behind this nonchalance?

Fear, of course. And existential dread. 

Ten reasons to hold your cards close.  

1. We been here before. Midsummer meltdowns have become commonplace in modern Yankee lore. Last year, right about now, we lost six straight, tumbling into 2nd place, where we languished into October. 

2. The Knicks have sucked all the optimism from NYC. Didja hear Mamdani's speech? My God. It was beautiful, full of memories for a team he's supported all his life. It's comparable to Joe Torre's three-Kleenex, 2014 Hall of Fame induction speech. 

3. Secretly, we want to freeze Cam Schlittler into cryonic suspension. That way, he could emerge for Game One of the playoffs. We're three months away. Plenty of time for a tweak or a twiddle. Too much time, in fact.

4. Our success comes from beating tomato cans. We have MLB's best record against losing teams. Not so good against the cream. Bad omen.

5. We're over-stretched with injuries. Somehow, we filled the void left by the loss of Judge and Grish. In a strange way - for example, Goldy's golden opportunity - the injuries may have helped. But we're at our limit. 

6. And the injuries never stop. Especially for a veteran team. Just sayin...

7. It's too early to draw conclusions about Spencer Jones and Jasson Dominguez. Neither has sucked - (and we worried about The Martian in RF) - but it would be nice to see one go on a tear. 

8. Lowly Boston is still in the race. They are 13 games below .500 - but only 6.5 out of the postseason wild care. So profound is the state of mediocrity in the AL that the Redsocks are still alive. That scares me. It should scare everybody.

9. Our bullpen canl blow any lead. The Circle of Trust is Fernando Cruz, David Bednar and Brent Headrick. After that, you've got a better chance of sailing a redneck Trump flotilla through the Strait of Hormuz.

10.  In Scranton, George Lombard Jr. strained a finger and will miss a few weeks. Damn. He had just started hitting. But Oswaldo Cabrera, in his last three games, is 8-for-13, boosting his average 20 points, to .260. It would be an emotional moment if he returns. I really hope he doesn't get traded. A fan fave.

After this weekend, the days start getting shorter.  Enjoy the sunlight.