A look at the Yankees remaining schedule

Much has been made about how the Yankees will have to face the Rays and Red Sox a combined 13 times in the month of September. The Yankees will also face the Oakland A's,Toronto Blue Jays,Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles in September. So with the Yankees tied for first in the AL East at the moment lets see how the Yankees have matched up to date with the teams they need to face (and beat) to make it back to the postseason.

If the Yankees want to win the AL East or even make it in as the wild card they will need to start by beating the Oakland A's starting next week at the stadium. It shouldn't be a big problem to the Yankees since they are 5-1 against them this season and all those games have taken place in Oakland. But the A's have been playing better, and the Yanks cant take them lightly. This could be the first time Dallas Braden makes a start in the Bronx since the famous "get off my mound" to A-Rod. Total games remaining against A's : 4 (all at home)

It will be a fight till the end for the Yanks especially facing the Jays.

Next up would be the Toronto Blue Jays, a team that surprised many this year. While they have not played well enough to make a run at the postseason they are above .500 and give the Yankees a ton of trouble. To date the Yankees are just 5-7 against them, that's the lowest winning percentage for the Yankees against all the teams they have faced this season (.417). The Yankees will face the Jays at home in early September, but the crucial games could come on in the last week of the season when the bombers will have to play in Toronto. Total games remaining against Blue Jays : 6 (3 away,3 home)

The easiest opponent for the Yankees would be the Buck Showalter led Baltimore Orioles. This season the Yanks are 10-2 against the birds, but this is before Showalter became the manager. In fact the last time the Yankees faced the Orioles it was in June. Since the O's got a new manager they have been playing much better. I'm sure Buck would love to play spoiler against the team he once managed. Total games remaining against the Orioles : 6 (3 away, 3 home)

Bengie Molina could be telling Swisher that the Rangers will see the Yankees in October.

As August is coming to an end most of the division races are tight, all except one and that's the AL West, and that's because the Texas Rangers have ran away with it. The Rangers were thought to be favorites in the west, but after an early season sweep in the Bronx and a overall slow start the Rangers didn't look ready to take the next step. Four months later and the Rangers are considered a playoff favorite since adding Cliff Lee. The Yankees are 4-1 this season against the Rangers, including a sweep of them in April and recently splitting a pair of games in Texas. One of the games in Texas the Yankees were down five runs against Cliff Lee and the Rangers bullpen but managed to over come the deficit and win the game, some consider it to be one of the Yankees biggest wins of the season. Total games remaining: 3 (all in Texas)

Once again the Yankees end the season up in Boston at Fenway Park. It has the chance to feel like a preview of October baseball (Technically it will be the series is Oct 1-3) or by then the Red Sox could be out of it, and what better would the Sox love to do then to cost the mighty Yankees a chance at the AL East and be forced to stick with the wild card. Then again you never know and the Rays could collapse all together and the Yanks and Sox could be in the fighting for the postseason. Either way a Yankees Red Sox game in late September always has some juice to it, even if the Red Sox will be clinging to stay alive.This season the bombers are 7-5 against the hated Boston bunch. Total games remaining: 6 (3 away, 3 home)

The Yankees and Rays are tied at the top of the standings and boy could the teams be anymore closer facing one another. So far this season the Yankees are 5-6 against the Rays, a fairly close record considering how well both teams have played. But even the runs are close, this season the Yankees have score 58 runs against the Rays, while the Rays have scored 59 on the Yanks. Pretty close wouldn't you say? So with seven games remaining against each other it may come down to that seventh game to decide who will win the series and possibly win the division. The Yankees play in Tampa Sept 13th-15th, but the crucial series right now looks to be when the Rays come to the Bronx the second to last week of the season to play four games. The strangest part maybe the Yankees playing important games against an AL East rival not named the Red Sox in late September. Total games remaining: 7 (3 away, 4 home)