All year long there has been a consistent theme during the Yankees’ times of struggle: the old guard of Jeter, Posada and Pettitte have gotten out and pushed the broken down car. Just imagine where the Yankees would be without the fifth and sixth highest averages in the AL on their team…two guys who had too much pride to watch the season get away as they stayed among the league leaders in hitting all year — even while A-Rod went cold in May.

And Andy Pettitte. Even when Kei Igawa was getting the ball every five days and Joe Torre was watching no-name kids get crucified on the mound (filling the void Carl Pavano left behind), Pettitte went out there and brought some form of sanity to the Yankee starting five.

Then the Yankees began win after the All-Star break…until they reached their old enemies out in L.A. Honestly, I don’t know what’s worse: losing a game in ten innings that you’ve battled back to tie, or getting crushed 18-9. Either way, the Yankees had lost two in a row as well as two games in the Wild Card and Divisional races.

Which is when the old guard stepped in. Andy Pettitte went out at pitched seven innings of one-run ball (he’s now 5-0 in August) while Jorge Posada got three hits and a pair of RBIs. Meanwhile, Derek Jeter only had one hit, but drove in the third run. These guys weren’t the only heroes tonight in the Yankees 8-2 victory, but they produced when the game was on the line.

It’s now back to five in the East and 1.5 in the Wild Card…and perhaps more importantly, the Yankees are done with the Angels for the regular season.