The A.L. East standings are tightening up. The New York Yankees might not be a direct threat in the division, but there's plenty of baseball remaining and the Yankees know a thing or two about dramatic endings. The Boston Red Sox are leading the pack, but Sunday's loss to the Yankees fueled by amotivated Alex Rodriguez could impact the division the rest of the way.

Red Sox fans were cheering when A-Rod was plunked. The Yankees' third basemen looked a bit surprised after getting hit, mouthing words a little too explicit to repeat in this article. Needless to say, A-Rod thought it was unprofessional, but handled everything with calm, went to first base and the Yankees responded the only way they know how; by winning the ball game.

A-Rod eventually came around to score after the Yankees rallied behind their troubled star. A-Rod had his best game since returning on Aug. 5, going 3-4 with two runs, a homer and two RBI. He's now hitting .319 with a .407 on-base percentage. With Alfonso Soriano going on a tear with the Yankees and Robinson Cano being the leader of the offense, there is a decent heart of the lineup in New York. Their pitching did a lot of the heavy lifting throughout the season, but can the Yankees use A-Rod as a reason to get out of fourth place and get back into the race?

One thing to notice about the Yankees, though they might not agree with A-Rod's use of PED's, they are backing their teammate. Heck, Joe Girardi almost hooked homeplate umpire Brian O'Mora because he was so upset at what had transcended before A-Rod was hit. For Girardi, it was a blatant blow. Fortunately, the Yankees were able to pull together, mounting a comeback that was put together by A-Rod himself.

The Yankees were down 0-2 in the second inning when A-Rod was hit. By the time the Red Sox came to hit following the incident, the game was tied 2-2. When A-Rod stepped to the plate in the top of the sixth, the Yankees were down 2-6. At the conclusion of the Yankees' half of the inning, they were up 7-6 and they would not look back.

All we can do now is stare at the standings and wonder if the Yankees have what it takes to mount a comeback. Will the Red Sox be responsible for getting their Yankees back to their winning ways? If there's one thing we can get out of Sunday's matchup is that the Red Sox found a way to motivate the Yankees and of course, it brought back memories to when these two juggernauts battled in the early 2000's.

At one point in that decade, both teams were fighting for the rights of A-Rod. Now, the Red Sox want A-Rod out and they want to keep hold of the division, while the Yankees are trying to get back in to the playoff picture.