Let's Call It "A Must Win"

If you're up 3-2 in a best-of-seven series and have two games at home it's not technically a must-win. But the Yankees are involved in a must-win game right now.

Teams up 2-0 and 3-1 have to win those series. The Yankees, with a lead in the third and fifth game should be home right now resting. The Yankees come home and have to win tonight.

Joe Saunders is going for the Angels tonight. Tomorrow night is big-game pitcher, John Lackey. Tonight the pressure is still on the Angels to win. Tomorrow it will be on the Yankees.

If the Yankees had played last night, the Angels would have had to play in bad weather, the same bad weather they made 5 errors in the first two games of the ALCS.

If the Yankees win tonight, they get to start CC Sabathia in Games 1, 4, and 7 of the World Series. If the Yankees win tomorrow, they can't start CC Sabathia until Game 3 of the World Series which means they need to use a 4th starter (Chad Gaudin or Joba Chamberlain) and couldn't bring back Sabathia until Game 7. If the Yankees don't win tonight or tomorrow night...well...Sabathia can have a lot more rest.

If the Yankees win tonight, they will go into the Phillies series rested and confident. If they don't, they will be faced with a lot of questions of their ability to win a series.

If the Yankees don't win tonight, visions of 2004 will come rushing back, my anxiety level will be 13 on a 10-point scale, and the Phillies will have confidence coming into the series.

The Yankees have lost their last 5 potential-clinching games in the ALCS. They've lost 6 out of their last 7. In best-of-seven series, the Yankees have lost 8 out of their last 9 game with a chance to clinch.

The Yankees need to win tonight behind Andy Pettitte, who can set the record for most series clinching wins in postseason history. They need to have a well-managed (under-managed?) game by Joe Girardi. They need a good offensive output at home by their lineup which has done well there all year and especially by the struggling Nick Swisher. The Yankees need to summon the memories of the ALCS in 1998 and 2000. And, most of all, they just need to win at home, where they're undefeated this postseason. They need to stay that way tonight.