It's over

Last night, the Red Sox stumbled into the Bronx riding a five-game losing streak. The Yankees had Andy Pettitte -- 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA in his last four starts -- on the mound, while the Sox countered with Jon Lester, who had never before experienced the hysteria of a Yankees-Red Sox game. Edge Yanks, right?

Wrong. Hurt by a horrendous throwing error by Derek Jeter, Pettitte didn't make it out of the fifth inning after giving up six runs on nine hits. Meanwhile, Lester didn't have to work very hard against an absolutely inept Yankee offense, throwing a combined 13 pitches over the third and fourth innings en route to a complete-game shutout. Final score: Boston 7, New York 0.

Since going on a 7-game winning streak in the middle of June, the Yankees have lost 8 of their last 13 games. Among the highlights: a 12-5 shellacking against the pathetic Pittsburgh Pirates, a 15-6 thrashing at the hands of the under-.500 New York Mets, and three successive beatdowns courtesy of Oliver Perez (5.29 ERA), Scott Feldman (4.60), and Kevin Millwood (5.08). All the while, the first-place Tampa Bay Rays, whose payroll is one-fifth of that of the Yankees, have opened up an eight-game lead on the Bombers, who are now closer to last place than they are to first.

Quite frankly, I'm sick of the Yankees. Sick of watching Jeter boot routine ground balls. Sick of watching Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera -- for lack of a better word -- suck. Sick of watching the pitching staff get so depleted that it turns to Sidney Ponson. (Sir Sidney's next start is slated to be against the Rays, surely a Yankees Classic in the making.) Sick of Giambi's thong, of Hank's edicts, of Girardi's closed-door meetings, of A-Rod's trysts, of everything about LaTroy Hawkins.

These days, the only comfort to a Yankee fan is that on the other side of town, the Mets have managed to be just as worse. Whether its Pedro's rapid decline, Perez's baffling inconsistency, Carlos Delgado's general ineptitude, or Jose Reyes' on-field hissy fits, the Mets, like the Yankees, just can't seem to get out of their own way.

Bottom line: boasting a pair of lowly third-place teams, this baseball-crazed city is going to have little to look forward to this summer. The Yankees and Mets, each with the highest payroll in its respective league, are a combined three games over .500. Both are six games back of a wild card spot, and to be perfectly frank, given how lifeless and unengaged both teams have looked at times this season, it's a shock they're even that close.

Sure, there's still time for each squad to bolster its roster and make a run at a playoff spot. But is it really going to take something as simple as a quick fix for these teams to start legitimately contending? No chance. The Mets already tried that, if you'll remember, when they fired manager Willie Randolph on June 17. In the 16 games they've played since then, all under the stewardship of Jerry Manuel, the Mets have gone 8-8 and haven't had a winning streak longer than 2 games -- hardly different from maddeningly-inconsistent team they were under Randolph.

Now, with C.C. Sabathia rumored to be on the trade market, Yankee fans are clamoring for a blockbuster deal. Is Sabathia going to change the fact that the Yankees are hitting worse with runners in scoring position than the Pirates and the Royals? Is his arrival going to make Bobby Abreu remember how to get on base? Is he going to bring with him some magic potion that's going to make Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui healthy again?

Of course not. Instead, we all just have to fact the facts: it ain't happening this year, for either New York team. Because over the first half of the season, the Mets and Yankees have revealed themselves for what they truly are, namely severely-flawed, poorly-built -- dare I say, bad -- baseball teams. These sorry squads have made baseball irrelevant in the city this summer, and it's time for us jaded fans to turn our attention elsewhere.

Some suggestions: How about Danilo Gallinari's NBA debut, which will take place next week in Knicks summer league action? Or a trip over to Giants training camp, where you'll be pleasantly reminded that not every team in the tri-state area is completely hapless. Maybe even a little New York Liberty basketball for the most desperate of you. It might be the WNBA, but at least you'll be treated to a team that's in a playoff hunt.