The Yankees have spent most of this season chasing other teams, the hunted becoming the hunter.
So when they have a chance to finish off a four-game sweep, like they did against the Angels yesterday, they realize the importance of doing so.
"There's not a lot of room for error," Joe Girardi said after the 8-4 loss that saw a three-run rally fall short in the ninth. "We have to take advantage of every situation. … It's playoff baseball for us right now. I think guys are looking forward to that."
PHOTOS: POST COVERS A-ROD THROUGH THE YEARS
With a three-game series beginning tonight against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, the Yankees figure to get an even stronger taste of postseason atmosphere.
Bill Kostroun/New York Post
NOT-SO WELLS: Vernon Wells heads back to the dugout after striking out in the second inning. In his next at-bat, he grounded into a double-play with the bases loaded, despite the effort of Alex Rodriguez to break up the play .
And while they thrived on it during the four-game winning streak that was snapped yesterday, they failed to capitalize on several chances in defeat.
The final opportunity came in the ninth, which the Yankees began trailing by seven runs after scoring 25 the two previous games. They came up with just one run against C.J. Wilson despite the lefty surrendering 11 hits in 6 2/3 innings.
In the ninth, Vernon Wells followed Robinson Cano's RBI single with a two-run double to cut the lead to four. Curtis Granderson followed with a walk, but Eduardo Nunez grounded out to first to end the game.
And the bullpen, so often a strong point this season, suffered a letdown, giving up five runs in relief of Phil Hughes.
The big blow was surrendered by Boone Logan, who gave up a grand slam in the eighth to former Yankee Chris Nelson.
"I just had a bad day," said Logan, regretting throwing as many sliders as he did. "To let a guy like that hit a grand slam off me, definitely isn't going to help the team out."
But like much of the rest of the clubhouse, Logan believes the Yankees are poised to continue their run in Boston.
"This is the perfect time in the season to face them," Logan said. "We've been waiting for something to start clicking and we've got the fire back in the lineup. You can tell how much better we're playing."
It wasn't good enough yesterday. With the score tied at 1-1 and the bases loaded in the third, Wells grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Hughes, although better than he's been in recent starts, allowed two runs in the fourth, as he fell to 4-12 and is now winless in his last nine starts at The Stadium. He gave up three runs in six innings and while buoyed by the improvement, he was disappointed with the result.
"I couldn't pitch much worse than I had been," Hughes said. "I located my fastball and had a little more life on it today."
Similarly, the Yankees have more life going to Boston than they did when they were there just under a month ago.
"This is a different club, for sure, the way we're swinging the bats," Girardi said.
And if they are going to make a serious run at the postseason, now would be a good time to make up some ground.
Tonight's game starts a stretch of 16 in a row — and 26-of-29 — against the AL East. All but seven of those divisional games will come against teams the Yankees are currently chasing.
"I don't think the feeling is any different here than it has been in the past," Hughes said. "We still have the same objective. When you break it down, it's really pretty simple."
They just have to win. A lot.
"We can't look at it that way," Hughes said. "We can't scoreboard watch, because there are too many teams to climb over, but it's going to be fun."
dan.martin@nypost.com
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