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The Yankees are down to 22 games, seven series, and the AL East is close enough — one up on Baltimore, two on Tampa Bay — that these are seven playoff series.
The best that can happen if the Yanks don’t hold off the Orioles and Rays is to fall into the peril of a one-game wild-card playoff. The worst is to drop from the postseason completely, which would likely make a bunch of executives, coaches and players wonder if they still will be drawing paychecks from the 2013 Yankees.
So the pressure is on up and down the roster. But here are three players vital to the Yankees having a strong stretch run and holding on to the AL East:
Joba Chamberlain
He was supposed to be a gift arriving around June 1, but that return from Tommy John surgery had to be scrubbed when he blew up his ankle in sprain training, falling from a trampoline. Then he was supposed to be an Aug. 1 gift, and though he physically rejoined the Yankees, the consistency of his stuff made him a punching bag.
Maybe the right answer was Sept. 1. In his last three outings, Chamberlain has struck out eight of the 15 batters he has faced. He was the key pitcher in the Yankees’ 13-3 victory Sunday over the Orioles. When he took over for Freddy Garcia, the score was 5-3. He struck out four of the six batters he faced, settled the game down for the Yankees and their offense blew it open. He was dominant with a fastball that touched 97 mph and command of both his slider and curve.
It is always difficult to trust Chamberlain. There seems something in his personality — lack of concentration or maturity — that every time he is going well and the Yankees place faith in him, boom, that is shown to be a bad idea. But the Yanks need him not to be a heartbreaker again.
Their rotation does not work deep into games. David Robertson is not the set-up stalwart of last year. So Chamberlain’s gift was delayed, but could still be an incredible benefit for the Yankees.
Alex Rodriguez
Rodriguez has a seven-game hitting streak off of the DL (.308, .982 OPS) with four of his eight hits for extra bases. In fact, he just had his first streak of four games with both an extra-base hit and an RBI since May 2009. The ball is coming off his bat with force.
Look, we can make this another long discussion about whether A-Rod is clutch or not. But there is no disputing this: He is used to the responsibility of having to carry a team. And the need for him to do that now is overt. Mark Teixeira (calf) is going to miss a while again. Nick Swisher has crawled up into the offensive fetal position in crunch time yet again. Because opponents want to neutralize the lefty bats, the Yankees will continue to see plenty of southpaw pitching down the stretch. Which, to some degree, works to their benefit because their hot hitters are A-Rod, Derek Jeter and Russell Martin.
When Rodriguez was struggling and it was understood that the days of 40-plus homers and 120-plus RBIs were gone, A-Rod said his season was about not quantity of run producing, but quality. Could he deliver big blows that delivered the Yankees to first a division title and then an overall title? Here is that chance.
Andy Pettitte
At this moment, the Yankees are trying to hold together a rotation with smoke, mirrors and Hiroki Kuroda. They have lost three straight CC Sabathia starts for just the second time since he joined the team in 2009, to a large degree because he has surrendered a lead in each. The presumptive ace just does not have the consistency of velocity and command that made him an unquestioned ace. Sabathia insists he is healthy. But he pitches as if something is not right.
At this point, the Yankees cannot trust Garcia or David Phelps to navigate a lineup much more than one time through. Who knows what the Yanks can expect off of the DL from Ivan Nova. Phil Hughes is so homer susceptible that he never seems completely in control of a game.
Pettitte is an unknown, also. He is 40 and hasn’t pitched since late June due to a fracture near his ankle. But Pettitte is like the Yoda of pitchers. His age seems not to matter at all. He radiates serenity and confidence to an entire team that he can do what is necessary to pitch well, win games. The Yanks cannot get that back soon enough and Pettitte himself said he needs to be back to absorb the pressure others are feeling because he knows he imperturbable to the stress of this time of year.
Maybe he returns this weekend vs. Tampa or soon after. But the Yankees sure need him as soon as possible.
joel.sherman@nypost.com