Does It Get Much Wilder?

My head is still spinning from that one.

It's been a long since we've seen a game like that ... correct that ... it's been a long time since we've seen the Yankees win a game like that. We've had the Red Sox and Angles rip our hearts out in that fashion a few times in recent years, and it sure feels good be on the other end of that, especially against this team, which has had our number for years.

They Yankees blew a four-run lead and fell behind behind behind by five before rallying in the eighth and ninth to pulled out a 10-9 victory over the Angels at Yankees Stadium Friday on Jorge Posada's bases-loaded single in the ninth. The Yankees have won four straight and are one-game behind the second-place Red Sox, who lost to the Rays, 6-2, a two behind the Blue Jays.

It appears the Yankees have found a team that has a bullpen even worse than theirs. Angels relievers entered the game with a 7.07 ERA, worst in the majors. That number took another nose dive.

The Yanks appeared to be headed to a demoralizing defeat after Andy Pettitte failed to hold onto a 4-0 lead in the sixth, giving up five of the six runs in that inning before Jose Veras poured more fuel onto the fire by allowing three more in the seventh to make it 9-4.

And maybe against the Angels of the recent past, the Yankees would have had no shot at a comeback. But these Angels are only a shell of themselves.

Edwar Ramirez got the last two outs of the seventh and pitched a perfect eighth. That's when the bats got going, again.

After Hideki Matsui grounded out to lead off the eighth, Robinson Cano, whose hitting streak is at 18, doubled, Posada walked and Brett Gardner singled to load the bases. Melky Cabrera continued his hot and clutch hitting with an RBI single before Ramiro Pena drove in two more with a single. Derek Jeter closed out the scoring, driving in a run on a groundout and Yanks were down by one.

After Jonathan Albaladejo pitched a perfect ninth, the offense took little time to beat up on new Angels closer Brian Fuentes. In years past, the Angels had dominant closers in Troy Percival and Francisco Rodriguez, who would toy with the Yankee. Fuentes is no Percival or K-Rod.

Mark Teixeira walked to lead off and Matsui and Cano followed with singles to load the bases and set the stage for Posada.

Through most of April, and especially against the Sox last weekend, whenever the Yankees got down by more than three runs, I never sensed any hope for a comeback. The offense was too passive, seeming to wait for homers and squandering opportunity after opportunity with runners in scoring position.

But since Tuesday, that has all changed. The Yankees appear to be looking to simply drive the ball with runners in scoring position and are willing to hand the baton to the guy behind them if they can't get a good pitch to hit. In the last two night, even Pena's gotten into the act with two big, two-run singles. And in the last four games the Yankee have taken advantage of their opportunities, hitting 18-for-37 (.486) with RISP.

This is the kind of offense the Yankees need, the kind that is capable of coming back and bailing out poor pitching performances, like they got Friday. Even Dave won't deny that there is a lot of talent in this lineup -- with or without Alex Rodriguez --but it just isn't any good if it isn't working together cohesively. There are guys who can carry the team for short stretch, but this -- and really any -- lineup is much more effective when no one player feels the burden to get the big hit all the time.

We're starting to see that now, and the hope is that even when A-Rod returns, that philosophy will continue.

The Good
The offense started early, giving the Pettitte a 4-0 lead in the first on Matsui's sacrifice fly with one out, followed by Cano's RBI single and Posada's two-run homer (the only homer of the game). Jered Weaver settle down after that to shut down the Yankees until turning it over to the bullpen to start the seventh.

But just as important as the offense was the work of Ramirez and Albaladejo. The game appeared headed to a blowout when Ramirez entered with one out, two runs in and a runner at second. He gave up a single, walk and a sacrifice fly before escaping the inning and then retired the side in order in the eighth.

Ramirez stabilized the game and gave the offense an opportunity against an Angels bullpen that has been even worse than Yankees'. Girardi was poised to bring in Mariano Rivera had the Yankees taken the lead in the eighth, but down a run, he elected to go with Albaladejo, coming off two bad outings.

With the Yankees suddenly back in the game, it was big spot for Alby. And it was good to seem him return to that groove he had been in before the past week. I've been hopeful he could emerge as a reliable option in the bullpen, but with any these guys now, we're in a stage where weneed them to go out and prove it.

The Bad
This was Pettitte's worst outing, even though he carried a shutout into the sixth. He allowed runners in every inning a really struggled. His line: 5-2/3 innings, nine hits, four walks, five runs and two strikeouts.

There are questions about whether Girardi should have lifted Pettitte sooner, given his struggles. But that ignores the second half of the equation: who is Griardi going to bring in? Can he really trust anyone out in the pen right now? And you can't have Phil Coke pitching two or three innings, especially when he's pitched in each of the two previous games.

The Yankees best game plan for winning right now -- although far, far from ideal -- is to get length out of their starters. Girardi tried to nurse Pettitte through the sixth, but Pettitte just didn't have enough on this night. He left with two-outs, the bases loaded and two runs in, turning the ball to impressive rookie Mark Melancon.

But Melancon couldn't deliver in his first pressure spot, allowing a three-run triple to Gary Matthews Jr., before throwing a wild pitch to surrender his first run of the season including Triple A. The best thing that could happen for the Melancon is for the Yankees to find themselves in a similar spot Saturday and for Girardi to call on the kid again. I believe he'll deliver next time.

Finally, Nick Swisher was hit with a pitch on his elbow and forced to leave the game. X-rays were negative, but don't expect to see him start Saturday and possibly Sunday with the Sox due in on Monday.

What We Learned
It feels pretty good to win a game like this, but I'd still rather win a nice, crisp 1-0, 2-0 games.

Runners In Scoring Position
Friday
6-for-10 (.600)
Season
60-for-225 (.267)

Up Next
Today vs. Angels, 1:05 p.m., YES
Matt Palmer (1-0, 6.00 ERA) vs. CC Sabathia (1-2, 4.73)

Sabathia was better in his last outing, pitching eight innings, but he allowed four runs in a loss to the Tigers Monday. As the Yankees try to extend their winning streak to five, they would love to see a dominant performance from Sabathia, not only to give the bullpen a break with the Sox two-game set coming up, but also to get their ace on a roll.