NEW YORK - They are two losses, no more damaging than two losses to Toronto, nothing more. That’s the Red Sox’s story and, as they boarded their buses and crept through Sunday traffic to LaGuardia, the journey slowed by the burden of two butt-kicking losses to the Yankees, they were sticking to it.

They’re right, of course. The baseball season is 162 games long, and the object when you get to the last game is to still have games to play in the postseason. No game in that long regular season is bigger than any other. That’s the way it always has been.

But they’re also wrong. Though the cold math of the standings may say one thing, the heart and the emotions say something entirely different. The Red Sox came to Yankee Stadium 3 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the AL East. They beat Mariano Rivera in the first of three games, then gave up 25 runs in losing the next two.

“They did what they had to do,” said Boston manager Terry Francona when the Yankees had gotten done kicking Pedro Martinez out of Yankee Stadium and into the East River.

What the Yankees had to do, what they always have to do, was to teach Boston where its proper place in the game is, which is behind the guys in pinstripes. What the Yankees had to do was reclaim control of a division that they had once led by 10 1/2 games. What they had to do was win the series, get their starting pitching back on track, put up runs, rediscover their swagger.

They did it all. And Boston didn’t do what it had to do, which was to prevent all of the above.

Luckily for the Red Sox, they’re still in control of the AL wild-card race. They still have three more games — next weekend — with the Yankees in their own building in Boston.

And they still believe that they’ll be there when it counts — in October.

“This doesn’t change our approach at all,” Francona said. “We’ll come back.”

His players seemed to believe that. They have reason to. They put together a great run in August to get back into the division race and solidify their hold on the wild card. They’ve got Curt Schilling, who didn’t pitch in this series, to lead off the playoffs. They’ve got the most potent offense in baseball and one of the better pitching staffs.

“If we get to the playoffs,” said Martinez, “believe me, we’re not going to be the ones who are scared.”

For a premier pitcher who had just gotten shelled, Pedro was remarkably relaxed after the game. He talked about refining his game and being almost, but not quite, where he wants to be. The wind did some funny things, the umpire didn’t give him a couple of calls, the Yankees were aggressive and good. He almost shrugged in running down that litany, finishing it off by observing, “Things happened.”

He didn’t note that things always happen to the Red Sox at this stage of the season. Nor did he or any of the Red Sox talk about how this series, which got so much hype and brought so much excitement to New York and  Boston, wasn’t really about what the Yankees did, but about what Boston did.

We already knew coming in what the Yankees can do. And we wondered what the Red Sox could do in return. Back in April, they beat the snot out of New York in a home-and-home series. And the Yankees shrugged, suggesting we wait a few months before writing their obituary.

If world championships were won in April and May, the Red Sox would have 40 of them. But they’re won in September and October, in series like the one just concluded in the Bronx. Forget that math that says all wins are equal. These may count only in the standings, but they are also clear messages to the Red Sox, saying the Yankees are mighty and will prevail.

“We still have games in front of us,” said Boston catcher Jason Varitek. “We have to worry about playing well and winning ballgames. It doesn’t matter who we play.”

“It’s not deflating,” offered reliever Mike Timlin. “The race is nowhere near being over with. This is no big deal. This is just baseball.”

Again, he was right — intellectually. The race isn’t over — although it is increasingly clear the Sox will play for the wild card and the Yanks will win the division. And there are more games to play, including three more between these same two teams.

But there are statements to be made in these games that carry through to the playoffs. The Red Sox made one Friday night when they came back from a run down against Rivera, the best closer in the game. The Yankees made two of their own the following two days when they piled on the runs until they didn’t need Rivera.

They slapped Pedro, one of Boston’s aces, around. They darned near got a no-hitter out of Jon Lieber. They saw Mike Mussina make Boston’s bats all but disappear.

It’s just two games, but the Yankees left them feeling pretty good about themselves. The swagger is back.

It’s just two games, and they’re not any more important than any other two games. The Red Sox say that’s the case. Now all they have to do is convince their psyches of that. All they have to do is convince their fans.

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