On consecutive weekends in June, the New York Yankees dropped five of six games to the Boston Red Sox and were in the initial stages of a slide that eventually knocked them out of first place in the American League East.

The Yankees are showing signs of rebounding from their two-month malaise and will attempt to earn a season-high sixth straight victory when they host the Boston Red Sox in the opener of a four-game series on Thursday night.

New York has lost five straight to the Red Sox after opening the season series with a 9-6 victory on June 6. After their 2-0 loss in Boston on June 16, the Yankees led the division by 2 1/2 games and fell out of first place after an 8-5 loss in Toronto on July 3, which was part of their second six-game losing streak this season.

The Yankees won five

See Full Page