Do the ups and downs of a fight for a postseason spot even out?
In the end, the result will be the answer to that question, but in a three-day period the Yankees have experienced the lowest of lows and highest of highs.
Sunday they flushed a three-run lead in the seventh inning and lost. Last night they used a five-run eighth inning to erase a three-run deficit to beat the woeful White Sox, 6-4, in front of an announced crowd of 33,215 at Yankee Stadium.
“It was a great comeback, we all fight together,’’ said Eduardo Nunez, whose two-run, two-out double off Matt Lindstrom broke a 4-4 tie in the eighth.
The Yankees exited the Stadium two games behind the Rays, who took a five-game skid into last night’s late game in Anaheim, for the second wild-card slot with two dozen games remaining.
“It’s a great win for us, think of what we are trying to do, gain ground on teams,’’ said Joe Girardi, whose club has won four of five after dropping two of three to the lowly Blue Jays last week in Toronto.
Across seven innings, White Sox lefty Chris Sale dampened the Yankees’ hopes. He allowed an unearned run in the second inning that tied the score, 1-1, and held the Yankees hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position.
Then the eighth inning surfaced, and working with a 4-1 cushion Sale was greeted by a Derek Jeter single to center and Robinson Cano’s opposite-field double off the left-field wall on a 94 mph fastball.
Robin Ventura called for right-hander Nate Jones to face Alfonso Soriano. Armed with a 99 mph heater, Jones opted for a 0-2 slider that Soriano hit into center field for a two-run single that sliced the White Sox lead to a run.
Alex Rodriguez’s single moved Soriano to third and Girardi, knowing Ventura would bring lefty Donnie Veal to face Curtis Granderson if he used Granderson to hit for Vernon Wells, went with Granderson anyway.
“Grandy’s been a guy who puts the ball in the air,’’ Girardi said. “He’s a guy who can hit deep fly balls. The least you’re looking for is a sac fly.’’
Instead, Granderson delivered a RBI single that tied the score, 4-4.
After Veal fanned Mark Reynolds on a 3-2 pitch, Ventura’s parade of relievers continued when the right-handed Lindstrom replaced Veal.
“I was looking for a sinker in,’’ Nunez said. “The first two pitches were sliders, one in the middle, one down. I was looking for a slider in and third pitch he threw it to me.’’
Nunez’s second double turned a two-run lead over to Mariano Rivera, who recorded the final three outs for his 40th save in 45 chances.
On a night full of positives, Hiroki Kuroda’s 6 1/3 innings in which he allowed four runs and seven hits qualified as a step forward, considering he was 0-3 with a 9.88 ERA in his previous three starts.
Boone Logan (5-2), who contributed to Sunday’s meltdown, worked a perfect eighth inning and was the winner.
“Every game is important, it’s like the playoffs,’’ said Nunez, who committed a fielding error in the first inning that helped fuel a White Sox rally. “We have to win all these games.’’