For the third straight day, the Yankees and one of their relief pitchers avoided arbitration by settling on a contract.

In the aftermath, the Yankees could not avoid the reality that their hopes are dimming quickly.

The Yankees could have avoided the whole matter by winning a few more games.

The Yankees could not avoid Steinbrenner's messages as they took batting practice.

The victory helped the Yankees avoid a recent hiccup in their starting pitching.

If the Yankees can avoid being hit by baseballs for the next week, they may get out of spring training without further injuries.

The combination enabled the Yankees to continue playing and avoid their briefest postseason appearance since 1980.

The Yankees avoided being swept and moved back to within one-half game of fourth-place.

But the Yankees avoided the sweep with a 3-2 victory, ensuring that they will still be in first place after this weekend's series.

The late-inning hits helped the Yankees avoid what would have been an embarrassing loss in the second game.