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Pablo Sandoval was about to play an exhibition game against the Chinese Taipei National Team in Taiwan last November, but he wasn’t comfortable. Sandoval needed to get some swings. He needed to find a batting cage. So, as his teammates relaxed in the dugout, Sandoval bolted past them to find a place to hit.

Sandoval’s determination to get his pre-game hacks was surprisingly intense. As important as it was for Major League Baseball to send a team to play in Taiwan, Sandoval’s at-bats weren’t going to be scrutinized. No one was going to criticize or praise Sandoval for what he did against a bunch of 20-year olds. But Sandoval, the San Francisco Giants’ third baseman, treated those at-bats seriously.

As I watched Sandoval’s magical three-homer performance against the Detroit Tigers in Game 1 of the World Series, I recalled what I had witnessed in Taiwan. If Sandoval treated some meaningless at-bats in Taiwan that intensely, how seriously would he treat his chances on Wednesday night? Sandoval answered that simple question with two homers off Justin Verlander and another off Al Albuquerque to power the Giants to an 8-3 victory.

“Man,” Sandoval said, “I still can’t believe it.”

Detroit’s starters allowed only two earned runs in sweeping four games from the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. That stretch of dominance didn’t last against the Giants. It didn’t last because of Sandoval. He hammered an 0-2 fastball for a homer in the first and then hit Verlander’s 2-0 fastball for another homer in the third. Both pitches hummed in at 95 miles per hour. He also belted Albuquerque’s slider for a homer in the fifth and singled in his fourth at-bat, completing a hitting clinic of a game.

In Taiwan, I watched Sandoval and Robinson Cano have animated hitting discussions. They would show each other their swings and then mimic each other’s swings. If there was a point that needed to be emphasized, they would stop each other in mid-swing and make it. This happened on planes, on buses and at the ballpark.

If you had told me back then that one of them would hit three homers in the first game of the next World Series, I would have guessed that it would have been Cano. If you asked for a percentage, I would have said 75-25 for Cano. Remember, at that juncture, Cano had hit six homers in his last 45 postseason at-bats. But I would have been wrong, way wrong, with that guess.

Sandoval is the fourth player to hit three homers in a World Series game, joining the legendary names of Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols. By having such a memorable game, Sandoval changed the enduring image I had of him. That image was linked to music and bleary eyes, not hitting.

When we left Los Angeles for Taipei on the MLB tour, the media members sat in the back of the plane. It was extremely comfortable since about 10 reporters were scattered in 50 seats for the 14-hour flight. Eventually, word of our spacious digs trickled forward. Sandoval and a few others joined our neighborhood.

Several hours later, the lights were dimmed. It was time for everyone to sleep for a few hours, but not Sandoval. He busted out his music docking station and pumped up the volume. The back of the plane turned into a house party. There was singing and dancing and little sleep. When you lose sleep, it’s hard to forget how you lost it.

Now that Sandoval had his magical game, I’ll naturally think about those three homers more than I’ll think about how he turned into Skrillex on the flight. I’d rather watch his swing than listen to him sing. So would the Giants.

Follow Jack Curry on Twitter: @JackCurryYES

It was bold, gutsy and daring. When Joe Girardi decided to use Raul Ibanez as a pinch-hitter for Alex Rodriguez in the ninth inning on Wednesday night, it was one of the more delicate decisions he has made as a manager. It was also one of the smartest decisions he has made.

Even before Ibanez drilled a game-tying homer off Jim Johnson and a game-winning homer off Brian Matusz in the 12^th inning, inserting Ibanez for Rodriguez was the proper move. Even if Ibanez had made an out and the Yankees had lost to the Orioles, I believe Girardi did the right thing. The manager’s job is to give his team the best chance to win. That’s what Girardi did.

Because Ibanez had a dream of a postseason game, the Yankees defeated the Orioles, 3-2, in Game 3 of the American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees need to win one of the next two home games to advance to the A.L. Championship Series. If not for Ibanez, the Yankees would be facing elimination in Game 4 on Thursday night. If not for Girardi’s decision, Ibanez never would have batted in the ninth.

“I just had a gut feeling,” Girardi said.

It wasn’t easy for Girardi to simply go with his gut. This isn’t Strat-O-Matic where the manager replaces one player card for another. This was Girardi telling a player who has won three Most Valuable Player Awards and has 647 homers that he preferred the 40-year old who had been sitting in the dugout for eight innings.

While Girardi explained how Ibanez was a low-ball hitter who could shoot for the right field fence against Johnson, a low-ball pitcher, his initial words to Rodriguez were, “You’re scuffling.” If Rodriguez was right, Girardi would have never considered replacing him. But Rodriguez isn’t right. He is 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts, a proud hitter who can’t catch up with fastballs and who has turned into a guess hitter. So Rodriguez was told to put his bat in the rack and become a spectator, the rarest of demotions for such an accomplished player.

“It’s about 25 guys,” Rodriguez said. “It’s about whatever it takes to win.”

Once Ibanez was told he would be pinch-hitting, he took swings in the batting cage behind the first base dugout. As patient as Ibanez is, he becomes more aggressive in late-inning situations. I think Ibanez outwits pitchers. Since the scouting report is that Ibanez will take pitches, I think he intentionally changes his approach to try and attack early in the count.

On a 1-0 count, Johnson, who didn’t want to fall behind 2-0 while protecting a one-run lead, threw a two-seam fastball that ran across the middle of the plate. Ibanez clubbed it into the right field seats. Rodriguez, who admitted that he became a cheerleader, gave Ibanez a two-handed high five near the dugout. It was a signature moment for Ibanez and Rodriguez, but for much different reasons.

After Ibanez’s amazing homer, the next eight Yankees were retired. Then Ibanez loped to the plate in the 12^th. Ibanez had hit .197 with no homers in 61 at-bats off left-handed pitchers, but, once again, he was in attack mode. When Matusz unleashed a first-pitch fastball that was up in the zone, Ibanez pounced again and hammered it into the second deck in right. In two at-bats, he saw three pitches and hit two homers. It was a night where Ibanez reserved a cool spot in Yankee postseason discussions. 

“It was kind of a blur what happened,” Ibanez said. “I think sometime down the line I’ll kind of remember it and recall it.”

After the dramatic victory, Girardi was asked how his decision to bench an iconic player could impact his relationship with Rodriguez. Those are interesting questions, but not for Wednesday. During the postseason, there’s no time for wounded feelings. Rodriguez was correct when he said it is about the team and that he was happier than anyone for Ibanez. If Rodriguez uttered anything that was selfish, he would have looked foolish. The manager made a decision. It worked. Everyone should move forward.

Will everything be copasetic on the Yankees? Rodriguez never forgave Joe Torre for batting him eighth in a 2006 postseason game. But, again, there’s no time and no need for Rodriguez to review that history. The Yankees are trying to win a title. What Girardi did, as bold, daring and gutsy a move as he’s ever made, worked and the Yankees won. That’s what matters. That’s all that matters.  

Follow Jack Curry on Twitter: @JackCurryYES

Before Alex Rodriguez took his first swing against the Orioles in the American League Division Series, I exchanged text messages with an AL scout. I asked the scout for his evaluation of Rodriguez, who had been repeatedly beat on fastballs as he faltered at the end of the regular season. His response was blunt.

“A-Rod will only show up if the pen does not have good stuff,” the scout wrote.

In one brief and damning sentence, the scout gave an accurate appraisal of what has happened in the first two games of the best-of-five series. While Rodriguez is 1-for-9 with five strikeouts overall, he is 0-for-4 with four strikeouts against Baltimore’s relievers. He is 0-for-2 off Darren O’Day and 0-for-2 off Jim Johnson.

With each unproductive at-bat by Rodriguez, the questions about him hitting third in the lineup have intensified. The Yankees can’t afford to have Rodriguez doing little to nothing in front of Robinson Cano, who is their most ferocious hitter now. Since manager Joe Girardi didn’t guarantee that Rodriguez would hit third when he spoke to reporters on Tuesday, my guess is he will demote Rodriguez to fifth in the order, shift Cano from fourth to third and bat Mark Teixeira in the cleanup spot for Game 3.

It makes sense for Girardi to drop Rodriguez, who hasn’t homered in 77 at-bats. Yes, Rodriguez drilled a line drive that a slick-fielding Robert Andino turned into a double play and also lashed a single in his first two at-bats against Wei-Yin Chen on Monday. But he hasn’t looked comfortable in these two games or over the last month. Sometimes, Rodriguez seems as if he is guessing instead of attacking at the plate, which isn’t the sign of a confident hitter. By batting Cano third, the Yankees will get him to the plate earlier and more often.

On the workout day at Yankee Stadium last Friday, I asked Rodriguez what his expectations were for himself in the ALDS. Rodriguez said, “I just want to help contribute to a winning team.” Obviously, I wanted more insight so I asked Rodriguez about his personal goals for the series. Rodriguez didn’t want the focus to be on him. He mentioned the importance of continuing to get on base in front of Cano and helping the offense in any way he can.

On that workout day, Rodriguez didn’t want to be the focus. But, after two games, a lot of the focus is on Rodriguez. Rodriguez isn’t the only Yankee who has sputtered, but he is the only $30 million Yankee that seems overwhelmed about hitting in the three-spot. It’s time for Girardi to make a change.

Follow Jack Curry on Twitter: @JackCurryYES

Sometimes, you actually get to save your season at the end of the season. Sometimes, the travails of April through August are pushed aside because of what you do in September and October.

Russell Martin is experiencing that rare opportunity now. He is saving a season that had been woeful.

As CC Sabathia used a fastball, slider and changeup combination to fluster the Orioles for 8 2/3 innings and help hoist the Yankees to a 7-2 victory in Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Sunday, he was the most important player at Camden Yards. The Yankees need Sabathia to be their ace and their guarantee. When Sabathia starts, the Yankees want to believe they are as close to notching a win as they can get.

The second-most important Yankee on the field was Martin, the catcher who called Sabathia’s pitches, who guided Sabathia through some dicey innings and who blocked a few pitches in a way that would have impressed Martin Brodeur. When Martin shed his gear, he managed to smack Jim Johnson’s 2-0 fastball for a tie-breaking homer in the ninth inning. Before Martin’s homer, he had gone deep once in 86 postseason at-bats.

Still, there is a relaxation about Martin in those crucial situations. After Johnson fell behind with two fastballs, Martin had to know that Johnson was going to throw a meatier fastball. There’s no way Johnson wanted to walk the leadoff hitter in the ninth inning of a tie game. Martin pounced. It was his third walk-off homer in 2012.

“It’s just, you know, you either want to be in that situation or you don’t want to be in it,” Martin said. “I love being in that situation.”

It’s rather bold of a .211 hitter to say he wants to be up in those stressful spots, but Martin said it with conviction. Truthfully, he isn’t a .211 hitter anymore. From August 29 until the end of the season, Martin hit .269 with seven homers and 18 runs batted in. He finished with 21 homers, a career high.

Before Martin victimized Johnson, the seemingly invincible closer, he had a memorable fifth. In that inning, Martin’s contributions weren’t about offense. They had everything to do with defense. After Chris Davis’ leadoff single, Lew Ford hit a ball that dribbled toward the mound. Martin instantly sensed that he was the only player that could make the play. He rushed forward, grabbed the wet ball and flung it to first as he tumbled forward on the grass. Mark Teixeira made a terrific scoop on the one-hop throw to collect the out. It was an athletic play and a hustle play.

Once Davis advanced to third, Martin twice blocked sliders that Sabathia had bounced near the plate. If Martin didn’t get his body in front of either pitch, Davis would have cruised in with the go-ahead run. Not only did Martin block the pitches, he gave Sabathia the confidence to keep throwing that nasty slider with runners on base. Martin explained his defensive role as “taking care of my pitcher,” which he did over and over.

It was a trying season for Martin, long stretches of lousy at-bats and an average that was under .200. But Martin is playing in October now, which is a chance for him to continue to save his season and help the Yankees push toward a World Series title. He was the second-best player on the field in Game 1. Suddenly, the .211 hitter looks imposing in the most important month of all.

Follow Jack Curry on Twitter: @JackCurryYES

In the middle of September, in the middle of a Yankees’ post-season dash that was much tenser than they ever expected, there were some doubts about CC Sabathia. The Yankees need Sabathia to be a certainty, but he had lost four straight starts, he had lost velocity on his fastball and there had to be a loss of confidence in Yankeeland.

Sabathia is a proud pitcher, a pitcher who is confident enough to say when he should and could dominate hitters. Across Sabathia’s last three regular season starts, that dominant pitcher returned. He went 2-0 with a gaudy 1.50 earned run average, minimizing the doubts with a rejuvenated fastball, with better location and with an effectiveness that the Yankees were desperate to see again.

“It was vintage CC,” Manager Joe Girardi said.

As the Yankees prepared to play the Orioles in Game 1 of the American League Division Series on Sunday, they were relieved that Sabathia had resurrected himself in his last 24 innings. There are a multitude of things that must unfold for the Yankees to win 11 more games and capture a World Series title. Getting powerful starts from Sabathia is one of the primary items on that post-season list. A solid Sabathia will make everything else unfold more smoothly for the Yankees.

When General Manager Brian Cashman has discussed Sabathia, he has stressed how vital it is to have a number 1 starter who can dominate. Cashman wants to be able to analyze the first game of a post-season series and believe that his ace will prevail. While no pitcher is automatic, Cashman noted that there are certain elite pitchers that offer their teams that feeling of ultimate confidence.

Did Sabathia achieve enough to give the Yankees that comfortable feeling about him again? He whiffed 28 batters in his last three starts, another sign of dominance. But Sabathia also has an unsightly 5.84 E.R.A. in his last two post-seasons, which is the opposite of dominance. The Yankees need Sabathia to be their security blanket, their sure thing, their certainty. If he is, their path to a possible title will be smoother.

Robinson’s Cano sweet swing has never really changed. He has always had that smooth lefty stroke, which starts with him remaining planted on his back leg, lifting his front leg, rotating his hips toward the pitcher and using his quick hands to pump the bat through the strike zone.

“That’s the way he has always swung,” said Jose Cano, Robinson’s father and the man who has thrown the most pitches to Cano. “He’s always been like that.”

Cano looks like a natural hitter and, according to his father’s recollection, he is a natural hitter. Obviously, Cano has made some modifications to his swing as he developed from a boy who chased his father from batter’s box to batter’s box in the Dominican Republic into a professional hitter. But Cano’s basic swing, that he-looks-so-comfortable-up-there swing, has been with him forever.

“I didn’t teach him that,” said Jose Cano. “That’s something he had.”

As Cano has terrorized pitchers with 18 hits in his last 29 at-bats, including a titanic 446-foot homer in a 10-2 win over the Red Sox on Monday night, that always gorgeous swing has looked even prettier to the Yankees. While Ichiro Suzuki had a superb September and Derek Jeter has been typically reliable, teams often need a power hitter to help carry them. Mark Teixeira has been injured and Alex Rodriguez has been absent, so that left Cano as the most likely player to carry the Yankees. And that is precisely what he has done.

Across Cano’s last seven games, he has been the feared, ferocious hitter that he is expected to be and has notched at least two hits in each game. How talented is Cano? I’m more surprised when Cano goes 0-for-12 than when he goes 8-for-12. He is that skilled, a player with few weaknesses at the plate. Hitting coach Kevin Long frequently counsels Cano about pitch selection and about not helping pitchers by chasing balls outside of the zone.

“If he doesn’t do that,” Long said, “it’s so much tougher for them to get him out.”

Cano was in attack mode against Boston’s Clay Buchholz on Monday. In Cano’s first at-bat in the second inning, he belted a first-pitch fastball for a homer off the Mohegan Sun Casino bar in center field. Later in the nine-run inning, Cano smashed another first-pitch fastball for a two-run double. Two at-bats, two pitches and two doubles, which is two more extra base hits than Rodriguez has in his last 60 at-bats.

There have been stretches in which Cano, the Yankees’ best player, has been an unproductive player. Before this splurge, he had been 9-for-53 with one homer. He has also struggled with runners in scoring position. But, for the last week, Cano and his sweet swing have helped carry the Yankees, carry them achingly close to a division title.

Follow Jack Curry on Twitter: @JackCurryYES

When Andy Pettitte was six years old, he cried after a flag football game because he couldn’t understand why his teammates were so casual. Pettitte wanted to win. They wanted to play. The boy that wept in the backseat of his father’s white Plymouth developed into the determined pitcher who always wants to win, too.

As Pettitte tossed six scoreless innings in a much-needed 6-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night, the image of him as a feisty six-year old flashed into my head. Pettitte has always been a tenacious competitor, a pitcher who scolds himself on the mound after poor results and a pitcher who has fashioned a superb career out of dodging dangerous situations.

The familiar sight of Pettitte allowing baserunners and stranding those baserunners played out on Monday. The Twins loaded the bases in the first inning, but Pettitte retired Justin Morneau and Ryan Doumit. The Twins had two runners on in the third, but Pettitte got Josh Willingham to hit into a double play. The Twins had men on base in five of Pettitte’s six innings, but none scored.

“It’s the same old Andy,” said manager Joe Girardi. “We’ve seen it for years. When he needs a double play, he finds a way to get it.”

The same old Andy. The Yankees needed the same old Andy against the Twins, they need him in his next start against the Blue Jays and they will need him even more if they clinch a postseason spot. In Pettitte, the Yankees trust. Pettitte is a security blanket for Girardi because he has been there and done that in October.

After Pettitte missed almost three months with a fractured left ankle, he has returned to fire 11 scoreless innings in two starts. Pettittie has pitched effectively because he has pitched smart. He mixes his pitches, he steers away from the middle of the plate and he makes adjustments. Pettitte employs a two-seam fastball, a four-seam fastball, a cut fastball, a slider, a curveball and a changeup.

As Pettitte discussed how he escaped the bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first, he said, “You know the situation, but you keep it simplified.”

How did Pettitte keep it simple? He wanted to get Morneau to hit into a double play, but once the count stretched to 2-2, he realized he could secure a strikeout. Pettitte said he “set him up” for the called third strike, a fastball that nailed the outside corner. With Doumit, Pettitte uncorked a slider, the new element in his arsenal this season, to nab a double play.

While Pettitte held the Twins to one hit in six at-bats with runners in scoring position, one of his most impressive displays came in an at-bat came with no runners on base. When Trevor Plouffe opened the second, Pettitte threw a curveball for a strike. Pettitte followed with a cutter that rushed inside and that Plouffe fouled off. Then Pettitte threw an outside fastball for a ball. Then Plouffe fouled off a slider, another pitch that hummed inside. Finally, Pettitte unleashed a 2-2 changeup, a pitch Plouffe hadn’t yet seen, to strikeout Plouffe. So Pettitte threw five pitches, each a different pitch and each at a different velocity and each in a different location. It was savvy pitching that resulted in a confused hitter.

The perfectionist in Pettitte called himself “a work in progress,” and said that he still needs to refine his pitches to make them as sharp as they were before the injury. Pettitte is scheduled to make one more start before the postseason begins, so he will have had three starts to get ready for the most important games of the season.

“That’s what we got,” Pettitte said, “so it’s going to be enough.”

The Yankees trust in Pettitte and hope he is right. Actually, after 11 innings in September, the Yankees might trust Pettitte more than any of their starters, especially if he continues being the same old Andy.

Follow Jack Curry on Twitter: @JackCurryYES

I was sitting at Newark Airport, waiting to board a flight to Houston on Sept. 11, 2001. My plan was to interview Barry Bonds, who was having a record-setting season for the San Francisco Giants, and to try and describe who he was. I didn't have an interview officially scheduled with Bonds, so this promised to be a challenging assignment.

As I read a newspaper near Gate 81 in Terminal C that morning, I noticed people standing up and pointing to the television. Their faces were covered in confusion. There was a report that a plane had crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center. We were all concerned, all worried. Soon, everyone was standing and staring at that T.V., desperate for details.

My cell phone service was spotty, but I eventually spoke to my brother, Rob, and my sister-in-law, Tracey. They mostly had the same information I had. My wife, Pamela, was on a business trip in Las Vegas so I didn’t want to alarm her so early in the morning. After a few calls and a few dropped calls, my mind tried to deduce how chaotic it must have been in lower Manhattan. Did anyone survive? I had no clue.

When the second plane hit the south tower, we all knew this wasn’t an accident. This was intentional and horrific. I forget how quickly they followed up with an announcement in Newark, but it felt like less than a minute. A calm voice told everyone that the airport was closing and that no flights would be departing. We were advised to exit in orderly fashion.

Surprisingly, I remember that people left in fairly orderly fashion. I don’t remember anyone running, although I’m sure some people did. I walked briskly, dreading over who I knew that would have been working at the towers that day. I walked a little faster and also wondered how I could get home and get to a landline phone to call Pamela. I called a car service company from a pay phone and asked if there were any drivers available at the airport. The company had one available driver. That driver and I shared a depressing 45-minute ride, both of us confused, both of us angry and both of us searching for answers.

We all have personal stories from 9/11, too many painful stories of more than 3,000 lives lost and an untold number of lives that would never be the same. For those who lost husbands and wives, sons and daughters and mothers and fathers, I can only repeat what I’ve said for the last 11 years: my thoughts and prayers are with you as you have to deal with such an unspeakable tragedy.

Several days after 9/11, I interviewed Bud Selig, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, about the resumption of the season. The first post-9/11 sporting event to be played in New York was a Mets-Braves game at Shea Stadium on Sept. 21. Selig asked if I thought New Yorkers were ready to watch baseball again. I told him that I thought they were. Although our world would never be the same again, the return to some semblance of normalcy would be welcomed. So would the diversion that baseball provided, a diversion that stretched until the Yankees lost in Game 7 of the World Series.

There is an 11-year old boarding pass that sits atop my desk, a weathered ticket that I look at every day. That’s the pass that I never used for the flight to Houston on 9/11. It’s a reminder of what happened on that unforgettable day. But I obviously don’t need the reminder. I remember the gory details of that day, just like we all do. The pass will always stay there as a tribute to those innocent people who never made it home.

Follow Jack Curry on Twitter: @JackCurryYES

The Yankees have tip-toed around the obvious for a few weeks, tip-toed around the notion that they were struggling and allowing the Orioles and the Rays to rumble back into the race in the American League East. As long as the Yankees had a lead, even if it was a dwindling, they could still talk about how they were alone in first place and they were fine. But that changed on Tuesday night.

Once it changed and once the Yankees fell into a first-place tie with the Orioles, Kevin Long, the batting coach, offered a candid assessment of how this free fall has impacted the batters. While hitters are taught to focus on the next pitch or the next at bat, it is natural for them to also wonder about how a once-sturdy lead has disintegrated.

“There’s some pressure, obviously,” Long said. “You get a 10-game lead and it’s down to zero. There’s some added pressure and guys are probably trying to do too much.”

The Yankees are trying to emerge from a drought in which they have gone five straight games without mustering more than six hits in any contest, their worst such stretch since 1990. When players like Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano have excelled, Long has been praised for helping guide them. Now that so many Yankees have faltered, Long must figure out how to spark these slumping hitters.

So what is Long’s solution to erasing the slump? It’s nothing dramatic. Long said the Yankees need to “relax” and “trust their ability.” But, interestingly, Long also stressed that the Yankees, who lead the Major Leagues with 203 home runs, must be more cognizant of playing small ball. They have to push pitchers to deep counts, advance runners and maybe even bunt a little bit, Long said.

“Obviously, we’ve lived on some home runs and that’s been well talked about,” Long said. “But, at times like this, it might be moving a runner. That’s just as important as hitting home runs.” He added, “Sometimes, it’s not about getting a pitch and hitting it over the fence. It’s about grinding out an at bat, maybe walking, trusting your teammates. All that stuff comes into play and, right now, we need it more than ever.”

As the Yankees try to muster any offense, Long said they “might have some guys bunt that you don’t normally see bunt.” That would be surprising strategy since the Yankees have had only 20 sacrifice bunts all season. Giving away outs isn’t the smartest decision for a team that is already having problems scoring runs. In addition, Derek Jeter and Ichiro Suzuki are the only regulars who seem comfortable with bunting. But Long was serious about possibly using the bunt as an offensive tool.

In Tuesday’s game, Alex Cobb whiffed Nick Swisher on a changeup with runners on first and second and no outs. Cano followed by hitting into a double play. Maybe, Long said, the Yankees would ask Swisher to bunt in that situation if it occurred again. But Manager Joe Girardi dismissed that idea.

“That’s not really our approach,” Girardi said. “We’re not the Bronx bunters.”

For 84 straight days, the Yankees were in sole possession of first. But they have lost 25 of their last 44 games and have helped turn the A.L. East into a race where three teams are separated by one and a half games. Long was candid about how much the Yankees have lost and equally candid about how quickly they need to make an about face.

“Again, I think the biggest concern here is we’ve lost our cushion,” Long said. “So we’ve got to turn it around and we’ve got to turn it around in a hurry.”

Follow Jack Curry on Twitter: @JackCurryYES

As Robinson Cano stood on the eighth-floor patio of a hotel in Taiwan last November, he raved about what it meant to see and hear how many fans he had “halfway across the world.” Those devoted fans inspired Cano, who said he would work even harder because he realized how people from distant places were watching him.

Lots of fans were watching Cano and the Yankees on Monday. There were fans from New York, from the Dominican Republic and even some bleary-eyed souls in Taiwan who were wondering if Cano could help push the Yankees past the Tampa Bay Rays. Instead, during a disappointing sequence in the eighth inning, Cano helped sabotage the Yankees.

Cano is an excellent player, the best player on the Yankees. He has the sweetest swing on the team, a swing that he perfects in early afternoon sessions with hitting coach Kevin Long. He has the most dependable glove on the team, too, a second baseman who plays with panache and who has a powerful arm that makes other infielders envious.

But Cano, for all of his talents, was the central figure in two plays that hurt the Yankees in Monday’s 4-3 loss to the Rays. After Cano lashed a low liner to third in the eighth, he took one step out of the batter’s box and stopped running. While that can happen to any batter, it shouldn’t happen. It also happens too often with Cano, whether it’s a low liner to third or a slow roller to second.

Once Cano stopped, he was doomed. Elliott Johnson, who isn’t Brooks Robinson, didn’t catch the liner. He dropped it, retrieved it and then made an errant throw to first. But Johnson still managed to get the out when first baseman Carlos Pena moved up the line to collect the ball and tag Cano. Failing to run to first is always a mistake, but Cano’s actions were magnified because he would have been safe if he didn’t hesitate.

“That happens,” said manager Joe Girardi. “Guys think a line drive is caught and they kind of freeze.”

A few minutes later, Cano was in the forefront of another play that exasperated the Yankees. With a runner on second and two outs, Chris Gimenez tapped a grounder to the second base hole. Cano moved toward his left to field the ball, but it somehow trickled under his golden glove. Cano didn’t dive. He stretched for the ball and missed it by a few inches. Cano later said that he felt something in his hip “grab” and that impacted his pursuit of the ball.

“I couldn’t bend over,” Cano told reporters. “It was grabbing.”

While it is difficult to criticize a player who may have injured himself on a play, Cano had to figure out a way to smother that ball, keep it in the infield and prevent the go-ahead run from scoring. Attend any Little League game in any city and, inevitably, you will hear a coach yelling, “Knock it down infielders.” The Yankees wanted Cano to knock the ball down and keep the score tied, 3-3, but he didn’t succeed.

“I thought he was going to get there,” Girardi said. “Unfortunately, he didn’t and that’s why we lost.”

After the game, Cano had an ice pack wrapped around his hip and said he was hopeful that the injury is “nothing bad or anything.” The injury-ravaged Yankees, who saw their lead over the Baltimore Orioles shrink to one game, need Cano back in the lineup as soon as possible. That’s on Tuesday night.

Cano was involved in two dubious plays on Monday, a game he would rather forget. But, as the Yankees chase an American League East title, Cano is a player who is capable of making two dozen plays in September and October that guide them closer to that goal. He knows everyone will be watching, as they were on Monday. It is up to Cano to put on a better show.

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When the Yankees gazed at their schedule last week and noticed that they had six games with the Cleveland Indians and the Toronto Blue Jays, they realized they had a superb opportunity to silence two wobbly teams and strengthen their lead in the American League East. It is politically correct for the superior team to say that the inferior team could win on any given day. But, in sports, politically correct isn’t always correct.

So what happened in those six winnable games? The Yankees played some uninspired baseball and went 3-3 against two struggling teams. After winning two of three against the Indians, the Yankees allowed the Jays to swipe two of three games from them at Yankee Stadium. Included in that series was an 8-5 loss on Wednesday in which CC Sabathia lost two leads and the Yankees made three errors and went 3 for 17 with men in scoring position.

“You got to put it behind you and move on,” said Manager Joe Girardi. “This day is over.”

As Girardi made those remarks, he was perturbed. His voice was stern, his tone was sharp. It was obvious that he realized how precious a chance the Yankees had lost by faltering against the Jays. Instead of maintaining a more comfortable lead in the division, the Yankees have to contend with this once-improbable thought: If the Baltimore Orioles sweep three games this weekend, they will be tied with New York for first place.

When the Yankees woke up on Friday morning, it was the 80th straight day that they had been in sole possession of first. But, because the Yankees didn’t stomp on the Indians and the Jays by going 5-1 or 6-0, they have put themselves in a precarious spot. Besides the Orioles, the pitching-rich Tampa Bay Rays are also chasing the Yankees and sit 4 1/2 games out of first. Across the next 10 days, the Yankees will play the Orioles six times and the Rays four times.

“We need to play better,” said Sabathia. “We haven’t played well. It starts with me.”

Sabathia was candid in taking the blame for Wednesday’s loss, but he has some teammates who could say the same thing. The Yankees didn’t have to feel this uneasy, but a mediocre week has created those feelings. Now the Yankees have to revive themselves, but it’s not against the Indians and the Jays anymore. It’s against the two teams that could nudge the Yankees out of first.

While I focused on the Yankees going 3-3 in the last week, they have actually been a .500 team for more than a month. In their last 32 games, the Yankees are 16-16. Yes, they have endured a spate of injuries, but they have too much talent to play .500 for that long. For the next 10 games and beyond, the Yankees have to prove that.