With the Yankees having gone 5–2 and taken a two-game lead in the AL East race since Brian Cashman added Bobby Abreu, Craig Wilson, and Cory Lidle, there is a growing sense that the Bombers’ Victory Train is picking up steam and rolling downhill into the playoffs. Boston will fall by the wayside, undone by injuries and lack of pitching depth. Life is rarely that simple or that easy, but in this case things may just work out the way it appears they will.

After concluding their visit to Chicago today, the Yankees have the following games remaining on their schedule: Ten with the Orioles. Nine with the Red Sox. Seven with the Angels and Devil Rays. Six with the Blue Jays. Three with the Mariners, Tigers, Twins, and Royals.

The Red Sox, Tigers, and Angels series will be closely contested.The Twins aren’t listed as a tough series because they will visit the Yankees, and as always, they’re just not the same team away from home sweet dome. They’ve also just lost their best pitcher, rookie Francisco Liriano, for an indeterminate length of time. The Yankees won’t win all of the remaining games, but — and this assumes that no further injuries are forthcoming — they should more than hold their own. There are no real pushovers in the mix, with even the Royals winning a few lately, but the Yankees should maintain a decent pace.

After the Red Sox finish their current trip to Kansas City, they have these games: Nine with the Orioles and Yankees. Eight with the Blue Jays. Three with the Tigers, Angels, Mariners, A’s, White Sox, Royals, and Twins. Two with the Devil Rays.

The Red Sox will have difficulty with the A’s, Angels, White Sox, and Tigers. That’s 12 “tough” games versus the Yankees’ 10. They also have eight games with Toronto, a team that has beat them in seven of 11 meetings. In contrast, the Yankees have beaten the Jays in seven of 12 meetings so far this year. The two games with the Devil Rays could also be a problem as the season series has been oddly competitive thus far (9–8 Red Sox). They get the same benefit as the Yankees in hosting the Twins rather than visiting (the Sox lost all three games at Minnesota back in June). They also receive slightly more of a theoretical bounce in their games against the Orioles, as they’ve beaten them in eight of nine meetings to this point.

Still, of all the assumptions contained in the above — that no further injuries will hit the Yankees, that past record will equal future performance — the biggest, thus far unstated, is that the Red Sox can maintain their pace going forward. The Sox have gone 2–5 over the last week, and are just 12–13 since the All-Star break. Boston’s hitting has maintained itself during that time, with rates of .280/.349/.463 and a run-scoring pace of about five a game, but the pitching has been allowing nearly six runs a game. With both offense and defense in equilibrium, it’s no wonder that Boston has been spinning its wheels for a month.

The Yankees reloaded at the trading deadline, but the Sox, despite an even more desperate need for pitching than the Yankees,’ couldn’t make a move. Like the Yankees, the Red Sox are hindered by a farm system that is on the dry side. Some of its depth was bled in the off-season in trading for Josh Beckett. Of what’s left, the pitchers that other teams might have asked for, such as Jon Lester, the Sox cannot do without. There are few exciting position players available at the upper levels. Infielder Dustin Pedroia is highly thought of by prospect mavens but he may not be an impact player (he’ll get on base at a good clip but power production may be slight), and the Red Sox need him. If an infielder gets hurt, he’s getting the call.

It was a thin market for pitching at the deadline, and it’s very possible that the Yankees snagged the best pitcher available when they acquired Lidle, a right-hander with a 4.53 career ERA. It’s also possible that a pitcher of reputation, if not results, will pass far enough down the waiver line that Theo Epstein can swing a deal, but there won’t be any aces, just broken-down hurlers they probably could have had before the deadline. Could a Jon Lieber or an Aaron Sele help the Red Sox stay in the race? Perhaps, if it allowed them to avoid going back to David Wells or Jason Johnson more than is absolutely necessary. Dramatically so? Probably not.

Of course, the back end of their rotation is a minor consideration when the front end has pitched poorly. Though his record is 4–1 since the break, Curt Schilling has been a league average pitcher in that time, as has Lester. Josh Beckett’s ERA since the break is nearly 6.00. Nor has the bullpen, with the exception of the nigh-impervious Jon Papelbon (“nigh” because he gave up a home run on Sunday), done well. Though Rudy Seanez has righted his ship of late, Julian Tavarez has been a punching bag all season long. When he enters a game the odds of a Red Sox loss increase exponentially. The usually reliable Mike Timlin has given up four home runs in his last 9.2 innings.

With nine head-to-head games with the Yanks, the Sox will have every chance to take back control of the race, but if they don’t get their pitching staff righted, those games may have an impact on the wild card race — but not on the Yankees.

Mr. Goldman writes the Pinstriped Bible for www.yesnetwork.com and is the author of “Forging Genius,” a biography of Casey Stengel.