Do Red Sox Need to Sweep Yankees to Stay Alive in Pennant Race?

Times are tough for the Boston Red Sox, and with Kevin Youkilis gone for the year, fans are now dealing with their internal optimist fighting their internal pessimist. That conflict will be tested to the max over the next four games in the Bronx.

Coming off a nice 6-2 win on Thursday night will help, for sure, as it puts the Red Sox to within 5 1/2 games of the Rays in the wild-card race (thanks in part to those ridiculous catwalks in Tropicana Field). Yet with the season getting shorter and shorter, the opportunities are getting fewer. It makes you wonder if the Red Sox need to sweep the four-game series in New York to stay alive.

It is, of course, a tall order. The Yankees have the best record in baseball, are 35-18 at home and are throwing CC Sabathia at the Sox on Saturday. Most Red Sox fans would be happy with two or three wins, but do they need more?

Consider that optimism was hard to find at Fenway Park before Thursday night's game, when it was announced that Youkilis would not play for the rest of the year. That changed — at least a little — with an Adrian Beltre grand slam that powered the Red Sox to a 6-2 victory. Now, if the Red Sox were able to pull off the improbable sweep, the AL East would be completely reshaped.

For argument's sake, let's say the Rays go 2-2 over the same stretch. The AL East would look like this on Monday night:

Tampa Bay: 69-43
New York: 67-44
Boston: 66-47

Obviously, things won't be easy without Youkilis, but with Mike Lowell and perhaps a waiver-wire pickup, the race through August and September could be fierce.

All of this, of course, is dependent upon people allowing their optimistic sides to win the war.

So what do you think? Do the Sox need a sweep this weekend, or can they survive with a couple of wins?

Share your thoughts below.

Aug. 5: Can Mike Lowell and Jacoby Ellsbury make up for the loss of Kevin Youkilis