Sure, it’s only July, as some posters have commented, but the AL East is starting to get interesting. The Yanks have won five straight thanks to the rejuvenated bat of second baseman Robinson Cano and unexpectedly strong pitching. The Sox have beaten the hapless Mariners twice in a row, victories which shouldn’t really mean much but at least put a stop to their three game post-All Star slide.

Of course, you still have to consider the Yankees underdogs here, if only because of their injury situation. Johnny Damon will come back, but his arm problems will return with him. Hideki Matsui is gone for the season, almost surely. Same with Jorge Posada, who’ll be replaced by Jose Molina, who gets a hit about twice a week. That’s a loss of about 137 RBIs from 2007. (Last season’s totals less what Posada and Matsui have driven in this year.)

Plus, pitchers Chien-Ming Wang and Phil Hughes are hurt, with Wang, a 19-game winner last year, probably out till 2009.

Other players are having subpar years. Derek Jeter is hitting .284, about 40 points off last year’s average. A-Rod may have 21 homers and 59 RBIs, but that’s still well off his pace of 2007, in which he had 54 homers and 156 RBIs. Melky Cabrera has been a non-factor.

On the plus side, my guy Jason Giambi, after an abominable start, has 20 homers and 56 RBIs, and Mike Mussina is threatening to win 20 for the first time in his long career (root for him-he deserves it), Andy Pettitte has been terrific, and for Mariano Rivera, there are insufficient superlatives.

Will it be enough to overtake the Red Sox, or must the Yankees hope that (as I think a lot of people kinda-sorta expect) the Rays will fold down the stretch?

Can’t wait for this weekend’s Yanks-Sox series…or the season ender on 9/26-9/28 (unfortunately, at Fenway—given that it’s the end of Yankee Stadium, what were the schedulers thinking?).