ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- This isn't about where they are. It's not about who they are. It's about what they have. That is currently the predicament the Red Sox have found themselves in.

Here is what we're talking about:

WHERE THEY ARE

After their three-game series with the Rays was punctuated with a 5-3 loss, the Red Sox are 6 1/2 games back of both Tampa Bay and the Yankees. 

For reference sake, on Aug. 30, 2006, the Sox were seven games back in the wild card race, and eight behind the first-place Yankees.

"I mean, what are we five or six behind? We've got a lot more games than that," said the Red Sox' losing pitcher Sunday night, John Lackey. "I'm not a math whiz, but I think it's doable."

Doable? Sort of.

The Sox have three more games with the Rays and six against New York. The problem is by the time they get to those games making up any ground will be difficult. 

The Red Sox have six games before they see the Rays again, having to play three in Baltimore and three at home against Manny Ramirez and his White Sox. Tampa Bay will take on Toronto at home and the Orioles at Camden Yards.

During that 1 1/2 weeks the Yankees are home for 10 straight games against the less-than-daunting group of Oakland, Toronto and Baltimore.

And what if the Red Sox managed to find themselves in some sort of position to strike in the final weeks? Well, Tampa Bay finishes off their regular season with games against Seattle, Baltimore, and Kansas City. (Ouch, Sox fans.)

This is why the Yankees are the better fit for the Sox when looking for a team to go after. New York finishes its schedule playing all but three of its final 13 games against the Rays and the Red Sox. Factor in the reality that the Yankees starters had a 5.23 ERA in August prior to Sunday, and it certainly would appear that the Bronx is where the Sox should be directing their attention.

Colorado made up 5 1/2 games in the month between Aug. 30 and Sept. 30 last season during its momentous run toward the postseason. How did the Rockies do that? Starting on Sept. 1 the Rockies won 10 of 11 and went 18-9 for the final full month of the season. And they made up that ground without playing the first-place Dodgers once.

What's the lesson to be learned? A winning streak will go a long way to making the seemingly impossible seem a bit more possible.

"We haven't played that well," explained Red Sox third baseman Adrian Beltre. "We've won some series and stuff but we haven't really got a six or seven-game winning streak. Hopefully this series we'll go to Baltimore and try and sweep them. Go back home and try to win six or seven straight and see what happens. Winning series might do it, but it might be difficult because the other two teams are playing good, too. Six games with 30-plus to play is probably not going to cut it just to win series. We're going to have to get six or seven or eight straight games [in a row] to win it."

Beltre is right.

Since July 1, the Red Sox have gone 27-25, going on one four-game winning streak, putting together two three-gamers, and taking two in a row five times. Other than that, it has been a wave of inconsistency. That isn't going to get it done by a long shot.

Want more uneasiness? The Sox haven't had a winning streak of more than four games that doesn't involve a National League team all year. And there have been only three of those American League-only four-game runs.

WHO THEY ARE

The Red Sox know what they are up against. But they also know what they've been able to do in a less-than-ideal situation. More than one player will utter the line, "We could have easily folded up, but we didn't." Despite the standings-induced roadblock, there is already a sense of accomplishment in the clubhouse.

They aren't blind to what is going on around them.

Sunday night, for example …

You had Beltre and his bad hamstring at third. ("Good enough," he said when asked about the condition of his left leg.)

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Marco Scutaro was playing shortstop with a right shoulder that has forced him to alter his throwing motion just to get the ball to first. 

A rookie second baseman in Yamaico Navarro who was making his second major league start at a position he only started playing on a semi-regular basis this season. 

Mike Lowell manned first base, still fending off the obstacles that come with his surgically repaired hip. 

And a catcher, Victor Martinez, who still runs with a broken toe fresh on his mind, along with the most recent ailment that came when Carlos Pena spiked his leg trying to get through the blockade set up by the catcher on Darnell McDonald's throw home.

They aren't hanging their hats on talent, but rather resiliency. That is why it should be noted that even though there has been a dearth of lengthy winning streaks, there also haven't been the kind of losing skids that many teams in the Red Sox' position might succumb to. The Sox haven't lost as many as three in a row since early July, and have experienced streaks of three or more defeats just twice since the beginning of May.

WHAT THEY HAVE

One thing that has become evident is that the Red Sox need to hit to win. And when playing the Rays over the weekend, they didn't hit enough so they didn't win enough.

Here are some numbers to chew on:

Since the begging of July, the Sox are 9-15 when scoring three runs or less. They have won just once (Friday night) the last seven times when totaling that level of offense.

Using Aug. 14 as a jumping off point, the Sox have scored just 54 runs, tied for 21st in the majors with Kansas City. Against the Rays, they didn't score more than three runs in any of three games.

For the month of August, with runners in scoring position the Sox have the 14th-best on-base percentage (.352), the 12th-highest batting average (.262), and are 16th among big league teams in slugging percentage (.410). 

Prior to the last 30 days, the Sox were first in slugging (.478), eighth in on-base (.366), and batting average (.272) with runners in scoring position.

Against Tampa Bay, the Red Sox had 19 at-bats with runners in scoring position, managing four hits, none of which were for extra bases. Get the idea?

In many respects the Red Sox put up an admirable fight against the Rays, carrying leads into the sixth inning in all three games while never trailing by more than two runs. They also came away managing to do what few thought was possible, controlling the Tampa Bay running game, catching three of the five Rays basestealers. (Only one team -- Florida -- had nabbed Tampa Bay basestealers in three consecutive games this season.)

Bottom line: The promise of solid starting pitching isn't going to be enough if the Red Sox are going to find that elusive extended win streak.

"We’re going to have to keep on playing," said Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz. "The only thing that’s going to change that this last month is to win as many as we can."

Final question of Ortiz: Is the postseason slipping away?

"Not yet," he said. "Not yet."

As Lackey said, it is doable. The Red Sox just haven't figured out exactly how to do it.