For just a little while, the music was cranked up in the Yankees clubhouse last night. The team had pitched well, flashed some impressive infield defense, and gotten just enough big hits when they needed them. They'd won their second game in a row, and players were packing their things to either spend the off day in Tampa or head north for an off day in New York. There was a sense of something positive.

But in every conversation, the overall mood was far more self-aware than self-congratulatory.

"If we had lost one or two of the last two (games), then we'd be in a much worse position than we're in right now," Brett Gardner said. "We're not where we would like to be, but we're not far away either. A good week and things can turn around in a hurry. We've just got to stay positive and keep working hard. Hopefully our pitchers will keep throwing the ball well, and we'll come together and score some runs. Hopefully it's not too little, too late."

Hopefully. That's a key word with this team right now. These past two wins were a testament to the pitching staff, and those wins did little to suggest the offense is on the verge of finally breaking out to consistently score five runs a night. The Yankees scratched out some big hits when they needed them -- Gardner on Sunday, Derek Jeter on Saturday -- but we've seen that before. The hope is that they can do that for more than a game or two (or an innings or two) at a time.

What these past two games did, as much as anything else, was simply let the Yankees avoid the absolute worst-case scenario. Can you imagine if they'd lost seven straight?

"It’s better when you win," Mark Teixeira said. "It’s a good bounce-back week. We hadn’t played well the first few games of the road trip, so it’s really good bouncing back the way we did the last two games."

That's absolutely true. It was good to bounce back. Now let's see if it means anything. Carlos Beltran is playing the field again. Brian McCann is off the disabled list. Those trade additions are in the lineup night after night.

Forty games left on the schedule. Time to make a move.

"I think for the most part we've got our full lineup together and healthy," Gardner said. "I think we're in a pretty good spot. We've just got to play up to expectations."

Associated Press photo

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