At 63-60, the Yankees are closer to last place than first place in the American League East. After a loss on Tuesday to the Houston Astros, time is running out for a chase at one of two AL wild card bids.

Prior to the first of a three-game set with Houston, the Yankees looked poised to take advantage of the softest part left in the 2014 schedule: six consecutive home games against the lowly Astros and White Sox.

After dropping the first contest in a crucial stretch, five games remain for this year's team to finally catch fire and make a run at serious October baseball. If they don't now, it's unlikely Derek Jeter's final September will be spent as anything more than a farewell tour and gazing up at teams like Detroit and Seattle in the race for the postseason.

According to Baseball Prospectus, the Yankees enter play on Wednesday with just a 5.4 percent chance of grabbing a wild card berth. If a sustained run of winning doesn't commence now, that number won't rise enough over the next six weeks.

According to first baseman Mark Teixeira, it's not time to panic.

"We're not going to let one game get us down too much. I'm pretty sure we're still in the race," Teixeira said. "We just need to score more runs and win more games."

Easier said than done for a team teetering on the brink of falling out of the race.

Can the Yankees rebound and get on a hot streak? Watch the video above and sound off below with your thoughts on the pennant chase.

Joe Giglio may be reached at jgiglio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.