Now, as the Yankees move back across town to more familiar territory, they welcome in a most familiar opponent -- the Red Sox, who took two of three games from New York in a Massachusetts setting last month.

"It's going to be important games over there," said Yankees right fielder Bobby Abreu, who went 2-for-4 with two walks in the final game of the Mets series, leading Yankees manager Joe Torre to proclaim that Abreu is "back."

"We're just going to try to win as many games as we can win," Abreu said. "They've played very good right now, so it'll be interesting. It's going to be a good series."

The Yankees' hopes of at least returning the favor begin on Monday behind the efforts of right-hander Chien-Ming Wang, a 19-game winner last season who kicks off yet another vital series for the Yankees.

"Very important," Wang said of the start. "Maybe it can help the team feel better."

With Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina also scheduled to see Boston, this will mark just the second time in this injury-ravaged Yankees series that they've been able to call upon their top three starting pitchers.

But it's better late than never for the Yankees, who would prefer to look at their circumstances as good timing -- after all, who better to head out in hopes of trimming their 10 1/2-game American League East deficit to the runaway Red Sox?

"We know they're tough and they're playing well," Yankees captain Derek Jeter said. "We have to go right back out there [on Monday]. Hopefully, it'll be a good game."

Amen.