The Yankees were just 15-17 on May 12; less than two games out of last place in the AL East. The next day, Andy Pettitte took the mound and helped lead New York to an 8-2 win over the division-leading Blue Jays. The Yankees would go on to their next nine contests, with the World Series champion Phillies ending their run with a 7-3 victory on Friday night. It's fitting that Philadelphia would end New York's streak, as they currently possess what the pinstripes have spent the last nine years coveting. This edition of the Yankees, fit with multi-million dollar arms and bats, is looking to end the team's one-year playoff "drought" and add a few more trophies to their cluttered mantle. The nine-game winning streak isn't historic by any means, but winning that many games consecutively is something to be proud of. There may not be the parity that commissioner Bud Selig touts come October, but over the course of a 162-game season, anything can happen. Prior to their loss on Friday, the Yankees had climbed to 24-17 and were less than two games behind the Blue Jays, the very team against which their streak began, for first place in the division. Lengthy winning streaks occur for a variety of different reasons, and in a variety of different ways. Let's take a look into how New York went ten days without losing, and pour over some of the numbers. They had a run differential of +30 over the nine games, averaging 6.6 runs per game. More impressive, however, was the 3.2 runs they allowed. For the season, they are allowing more than five runs per game. It was largely pitching, and not their customary hitting, that allowed them to win nine straight. The Yankees had a club ERA of 3.18 (their season ERA is still 5.20), a strikeout-to-walk rate of 1.7 and a WHIP of 1.29 over the course of the streak. Their pitching was strong from the starting rotation through to the bullpen, which had been a weakness prior to their mid-May run. Their starters had an ERA of 3.35, with CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett, the team's "hired guns" leading the way. The pair combined to pitch 21 2/3 innings, allowing just five runs and striking out 19 batters. The bullpen was even better. Eight men combined to pitch 33 1/3 innings in the nine games. They surrendered just ten runs, good for a 2.70 ERA. Remove Jonathan Albaladejo (four runs in five innings) and Phil Coke (four runs in 4 1/3 innings) from the equation, and the bullpen's ERA drops to 0.75. Alfredo Aceves was the unsung hero of the run. He pitched 9 1/3 innings of scoreless baseball, while striking out five batters and walking just one. Joe Girardi also got scoreless performances from Brett Tomko, Brian Bruney and Jose Veras. Mariano Rivera, shaky in late April and early May, appears locked in once again. He pitched 6 1/3 innings in the nine-game streak, allowing just one run and striking out five. He notched three saves during the run, and lowered his ERA by almost a full point. It helped that their defense was solid as well. They committed two errors against the Blue Jays in their first win of the nine, and went errorless in the next eight contests. While the Yankees' offense was slightly above average during the streak, their hitting was more timely than explosive. They averaged 1.56 runs in the first, and 1.11 in the second. For the most part their bats were silent in the middle innings, before waking up at the end of games. They put up 1.33 runs in the seventh, 0.89 in the eighth and 0.60 in the ninth inning. One also cannot discount their run of three consecutive walk-off wins last weekend against the Twins, with victories coming in the ninth, eleventh and tenth inning, respectively. Mark Teixeira was the unquestioned offensive star, hitting .441 with four home runs and 15 RBIs. His on-base percentage was 0.513, thanks to the five walks he drew. He was hitting .191 prior to the winning streak, and his season average was .250 heading into Friday's debacle against the Phillies. Alex Rodriguez struggled, hitting just .148 during the run. However, his hits were timely, important and he was patient at the plate. He drew eleven walks in the nine games, bumping his on-base percentage up to .395. All four of his hits were home runs, including his game-winning bomb against the Twins. Robinson Cano and Brett Gardner were hot as well. Cano hit .333 with a pair of home runs. Gardner, who split time with Melky Cabrera, hit .400 with two homers, including the first of his career. Johnny Damon was good as well, despite his eight strikeouts. He hit .313 with one homer in 32 at-bats. Nick Swisher has definitely cooled down, but he remained productive. He hit just. 143 during the streak, but drew nine walks and reached base 35.1% of the time he came to the plate. With Jorge Posada and Jose Molina on the disabled list, fill-ins Kevin Cash and Francisco Cervelli played admirably. The two catchers combined to hit .267 with three RBI at the bottom of the order. The Yankees will look to Andy Pettitte on Saturday afternoon to avoid a losing "streak" and begin another lengthy winning run. Historically, he's the right man for the job. Regardless, New York's mid-May run has showcased just how dangerous they can be. They have the hitters to win games 8-2 and 11-4, and the pitchers to grind out games 3-2 and 5-4. Thanks in part to their nine-game run, the Yankees now rank third in runs scored, first in home runs, eleventh in batting average and first in OPS. They are also among the best fielding clubs in baseball, with a percentage of .987. New York's ERA is still high (5.20, 26th in the league), but they have shown promise over the last two weeks. If you remove Chien-Ming Wang's numbers, which are still bloated after allowing two runs in three innings of relief against Philadelphia on Friday night, the Yankees pitching staff doesn't look nearly as grim. Their team ERA drops to 4.71 if you remove Wang's 25 earned runs in nine innings of work, which would vault them up four spots to 22nd. For what it's worth, their ERA is 4.55 in May (17th) and 3.82 over the last seven days (16th). With home runs still flying out of Yankee Stadium at a record pace, the Yankees have a much better chance to win the AL East with even an average pitching staff. They have shown in recent weeks that they can be good, and sometimes even great. Timely hitting and reliable pitching was the hallmark of the Yankees' championship teams in the late 1990s. A return to that style would indicate that the Blue Jays are just keeping first place warm for the Bombers. Andrew Perna is Deputy Editor of RealGM.com and co-host of RealGM's Radio Show. Please feel free to contact him with comments or questions via e-mail: [email protected]