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TAMPA — The Yankees may try to downplay what they are returning home to Thursday.

They like to treat every game and every series the same, all part of the 162-game grind, they say.

But this is not just another series. Not just another Yankees-Red Sox series, even.

As far as regular-season series go, the stakes are about as high as they could be while the calendar is still in August, with the Yankees and Red Sox in the heat of a playoff race and about to play a four-game set that could go a long way in determining how the rest of the year plays out.

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