McAdam: It's only May, but consider this upcoming series with the Yankees to be critical

Must-win? That would be a stretch.

Need to win? That would be closer to the truth.

As the Red Sox travel to New York for the second time this season, braced for a four-game series, they run the risk of falling too far behind the A.L. East-leading Yankees.

Since leaving New York the last time, the Red Sox have dug themselves out of the ditch they drove themselves into with their play in the first three weeks. Even after dropping two straight to the Cleveland Indians -- at home, no less -- the Sox have gone 23-14 since the last time they visited the Bronx.

The starting pitching has improved markedly -- gone as the day when the Sox allowed home runs in bunches, falling hopelessly behind in the early innings -- and the defense, sloppy at first, has undergone its own transformation.

The lineup, if not quite as fearsome as a year ago, is again formidable. Only two other American League teams had scored more runs than the Sox heading into Wednesday's action and their OPS is a respectable fifth, part of the upper third in the league.

And yet, despite having fixed their obvious leaks, there's this sobering stat: since they last left the Bronx, the Red Sox have picked up exactly one-half game in the standings.

One. Half. Game.

When they last left New York for St. Petersburg -- where the season first began to turnaround thanks to a sweep of the Rays -- the Sox sat eight games out of first. Now, despite their turnaround, they're 7.5 back.

Thanks for nothing.

The troubling aspect here, of course, is the state of the Yankees, whose roster has been decimated by injuries. They're still without their two best hitters (Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton), the left side of their infield (Miguel Andujar and Didi Gregorius) and their best starting pitcher (Luis Severino).

And yet, the Yankees have the third-best record in the American League and the fourth-best in baseball.

If there were any positives to come out of the Sox' drubbing by the Indians Wednesday night, it's that the Sox didn't have to utilize any of their high-leverage relievers in the lopsided 14-9 defeat. And the Sox have their top four starters - in order: Chris Sale, Eduardo Rodriguez, Rick Porcello and David Price -- to face the Yankees.

They'll need their rotation to counter the Yankees' offense.

At the bare minimum, the Red Sox need a split to ensure that they drop back any more in the standings. Losing three of four, or worse, getting swept might not officially knock the Sox out of contention for the division title that they've won each of the last three seasons -- but it would come close.

That would force the Red Sox to focus their efforts on the wild-card spot as their entry to the post-season, a distinctly unappetizing path with four full months of the regular season schedule.

Even after a 14-9 whupping by the Cleveland Indians, Alex Cora wasn't about to acknowledge the significance of the upcoming series with the Yanks.

"We need to play better,'' said Cora, shifting the focus from the opponent to his own team's recent issues. "I think the last 12 innings haven't been good. We haven't pitched well. We need to be better. It really doesn't matter (who we're playing); I said it earlier in the season when we went there and I'll say it again: It's not that we're going there and we're 'Oh, we're playing New York and we have to...'

"It really doesn't matter. The road trip might be playing in Miami or somewhere else. We have to play better. We really didn't play well the last 12 innings.''

Actually, the downturn extends well past that. Over the last 15 games, the Sox are 7-8, the kind of pace that makes it impossible to make up any ground, especially when the front-runners are playing at nearly a .700 clip.

Not long ago, when the Sox finally got to the .500 mark, Cora dismissed the achievement, saying that the Sox needed to keep going, and get to five games over .500 -- and beyond.

Three weeks later, they've yet to get there.

"We were six outs away from getting there (Tuesday night),'' said Cora ruefully, "and we didn't get there.''

There's much forward progress still to make.

But more than anything, the Red Sox can't afford to fall back any.

It may only be May, but in the competitive American League East,  to quote a famous Yankee philosopher, it can get late early.