Boland: Posada, Pettitte and Phil the key stories

ARLINGTON, Texas

The veteran catcher, who already has dealt with his share of nagging injuries this season, is day-to-day with concussion symptoms.

One of the innings horses of the rotation, who has been inconsistent in the second half but probably still is the group's best bet other than CC Sabathia, will be skipped from his scheduled start tomorrow.

And the biggest news of yesterday, an off day, took place in Trenton, where Andy Pettitte made the first of what could be two rehab starts in a Double-A playoff game last night. He pitched four shutout innings.

Those were the primary stories accompanying the Yankees here as they prepared to start a three-city, nine-game trip Friday night that could go a long way toward determining who wins the AL East title and who ends up with the wild card.

After three games against the Rangers, a team the Yankees very well could meet in the Division Series, come three against the Rays. Tampa Bay, after losing two of three in Boston, trails the Yankees by 2½ games.

The trip ends with a three-game set against the Orioles, who were a Nick Swisher walk-off homer away from sweeping the Yankees at the Stadium this week.

"Every game's important," general manager Brian Cashman said by phone yesterday. "We're trying to secure a playoff berth. We'd love to win the division, and winning controls that."

Injuries can't be controlled, though, and the Yankees breathed a sigh of relief Wednesday with regard to Jorge Posada.

Posada, who told manager Joe Girardi that he felt "foggy" after taking a foul ball to the mask Tuesday night, was sent to New York-Presbyterian Hospital for neurological tests, which were negative for a concussion. The catcher, cleared to play late Wednesday afternoon, was expected to travel with the team Thursday afternoon.

"He [Girardi] has an available player if he wants him," Cashman said. "He'll probably talk to Jorgie when he gets to the ballpark, ask him how he feels and go from there."

Meanwhile, Phil Hughes, at 1551/3 innings and facing a regular-season limit believed to be about 175, will be skipped for the third and - according to Cashman - last time this weekend. A.J. Burnett will take Hughes' spot Saturday and Dustin Moseley will start Sunday. Hughes' next start will be Wednesday against the Rays.

Deciding to skip Hughes, even in a tight division race, wasn't difficult.

"We said in the spring we were going to stick with the program," Cashman said, "and we're proving it."

And of course, the Yankees were keeping an eye on Pettitte's start for Trenton. "A healthy Andy obviously can be effective for us when it counts, and this is a step in that process," Cashman said.

Swisher, after hitting a two-run homer with one out in the ninth that saved the Yankees from a sweep and allowed them to gain a game against Tampa Bay, said the trip is crucial.

"We've got to play well, no doubt," he said. "We've got two great teams coming up in Texas and Tampa Bay, and Baltimore [is] obviously playing amazing lately. We've got our work cut out for us. We're in a great position right now, and if we can stay relatively healthy and keep that mind-set we've had all season long, I think we're going to be successful."

Although Cashman said qualifying for the postseason is the first goal, winning another division title has meaning.

"Practically speaking, you really just need to get in," he said. "It's been proven wild card vs. division title might not necessarily matter. But we'd like to defend our American League East division title. We'd like to secure another one, and that's what we're trying to do. But if we don't, that's not going to change our ultimate mission of trying to win another World Series championship."

With Katie Strang