The Yankees came up one run short tonight to let the Red Sox creep to within two games of first. But should New York hold on to win the division, it will be the seventh time they have knocked the Red Sox out of first after July 1. That would be the most ever.

Here are the most times that one team has leapfrogged another into first from July 1 on:

OK, you say, but a lot of those are from decades ago. How many times has it happened in recent memory?

Dang, you're never satisfied, are you?

Since the advent of divisional play, here are the leaders. Note whose numero uno:

So the perception that the Red Sox always fold to the Yankees is true, eh? I guess that's no real shocker.

As a Phils fan, I can now understand why we hate the Braves of late, why we hated the Pirates in the mid-Seventies and the Cardinals in the early Eighties, and why we respected the Expos (cum Nationals) while winning a World Series.