ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays aren’t even close to the Dead Sox.

And the Yankees probably aren’t the Knicks, either.

Talk was circulating among some overexcited guessers that New York’s marquee baseball franchise might duplicate the Knicks’ magical run after they swept the rival Red Sox two straight games in The Bronx.

But down here, before a hostile sellout crowd and a better team than Boston with a much better plan, the Yankees provided zero magic and registered only one hit against known Yankee killer Drew Rasmussen.