Imagine how tense life at Yankee Stadium could be right now.
Envision what we would be discussing if the Yankees' 1-4 start had kept snowballing.
Mark Teixeira, with some prompting, did just that. He proposed a grim vision.
"If we were 2-10 right now, I think everyone would be saying, 'Hey, Tex, when are you back? When are you back? When are you back?' " the injured Yankees first baseman said yesterday afternoon.
Instead of lying in the AL East gutter, turning their worst-case scenarios into a reality, the Yankees came back against the Diamondbacks, here in The Bronx, to record an exciting, 4-3 victory, their seventh in eight games, and lift their record to a very respectable 8-5. That puts them in second place in the AL East, a game-and-a-half behind the equally surprising Red Sox (10-4).
That won't pop any champagne corks, yet in this season of diminished expectations, it has given the Yankees an early, helpful dosage of confidence and relief.
"I call it the avalanche of negativity," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "You can bring that on yourself with poor performance. And right now, it's hard enough just to have these guys go out and compete, do all that stuff.
"But when you invite more on your shoulders, it creates more issues to deal with. At this point, we've been able to take care of that for now, which is good."
That avalanche would have taken many forms, had not newcomers like Travis Hafner — who hit last night's game-winning, pinch-hit homer in the eighth — Vernon Wells and Kevin Youkilis and holdover All-Star Robinson Cano produced offensively to support the overall respectable pitching.
Cashman would be receiving questions about what type of trade he could make — the answer is "Pretty much no type" — and perhaps even his job security would be inaccurately questioned. The same goes for manager Joe Girardi, whose contract is up after this season.
Worst of all, as Teixeira noted while discussing the progress in his right wrist, there would be far greater scrutiny placed upon him, Curtis Granderson (right forearm) and Derek Jeter (left ankle) as they worked to rejoin the team.
"They can see you don't rush the other guys," Cano said. "You can have more of a chance to prepare yourself 100 percent."
CC Sabathia pitched his third straight strong outing, alleviating concerns about his diminished velocity with command and mound smarts. The big lefty smiled last night as he spoke of getting it done with "smoke and mirrors," and you could say the same for the Yankees' offense. They have scored a modest 19 runs in five games on this homestand, which concludes tonight, yet have a 4-1 record.
Last night's magic came in the seventh inning, when the Yankees — to that point looking helpless against impressive Diamondbacks sophomore Wade Miley — pieced together two walks and three hits, highlighted by Brett Gardner's game-tying, two-out single against lefty reliever Tony Sipp, to set up Hafner's big moment. The rally in the seventh was the antidote to the "too many home runs" meme that defined the Yankees the prior few seasons. And, of course, Hafner's blast in the eighth off David Hernandez showed that sometimes a home run can be rather efficient.
With their 7-1 run, the Yankees have bought themselves some greatly appreciated time. Time for the injured guys, management and ownership.
"It just gives us a better night's sleep," said Cashman, who still is in a walking boot for his fractured right leg. "We're getting out of the gate OK. A lot of the new guys have obviously assisted us.
"But the bottom line is, we're not in first. ... The goal is to be in first place the whole way, as long as you can be, and be the last team in that position when the season ends. So right now, we're looking up at Boston, and that's no good. But we're in striking distance. That is good."
"I think we still want to keep going," Sabathia said. "We know it's a long way to go. But it feels good to be playing well."
Much, much better than what could have been and what seemed perfectly possible after five games.
kdavidoff@nypost.com
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