By dropping the first two games of the weekend’s Subway Series, the Yankees practically assured themselves of entering this week’s series against Boston trailing their division-leading rivals by double-digits.

Initially it seemed that things would only get worse on Sunday night, as Tyler Clippard became the first Yankee pitcher to throw David Wright a strike after the Mets third baseman belted a pair of homers in his first two at-bats on Saturday and was intentionally walked in each of his next three at-bats. Clippard’s offering was promptly deposited over the rightfield wall, giving Wright his third homer in his last three at-bats, and staking the Amazin’s to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 2nd. After getting off to a poor start in April, Sunday’s homer was Wright’s seventh in 70 at-bats during the month of May.

In stark contrast, May has been an extremely cruel month to starting pitcher John Maine, who was voted NL Pitcher of the Month in April, but is 0-2 with a 6.19 ERA in his last three starts. Maine squandered his narrow margin on Sunday, surrendering 4 runs in the fourth inning after walking the ice-cold Bobby Abreu and the inept Doug Mientkiewicz. Meanwhile, the 22-year-old Clippard went six strong innings, allowing only three hits and striking out six - Wright’s homer, the only blemish on his stellar line.

For the Yankees, it was an absolutely critical win. Another loss would have swept the Bombers out of Shea, 11.5 games behind the Red Sox and just a half game ahead of the last-place Devil Rays. As it stands, the team still has their work cut out for them. Via The Bergen Record’s Bob Klapisch:

To say the Bombers are on the brink is putting it mildly: they’re 10½ games out, which means they have to take at least 10 of the remaining 12 games with Boston. Derek Jeter says, “We can’t be thinking of anything except the one game we’re playing,” but the math says the Yankees need a small miracle now.