Blown leads, bad pitching, and sudden timely hits that follow inning upon inning of wasted opportunity, then a march toward victory…

That's been the formula lately for Yankee wins. Lords knows there is nothing more thrilling for fans in a sweltering ballpark than an exhilarating, come-from-behind walk-off win.  But it's hard to keep winning when you have to count on miracles.

Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Whatever your tonic, this Yankee team can offer you plenty of reasons to back your claim.

For the optimists, the Yanks are being led by their veterans (note that I resisted the temptation to modify the noun "veterans" with the adjective "grizzled.") Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, and Hideki Matsui are all crazy hot right now, carrying the team while Alex looks to get his stroke back.

An injury-free Johnny Damon is serving as the team catalyst; he's raised his average from the .250s to the .320s in less than a month.

In fact, Damon is tied for 6th in the league in the all-important Runs Created Above Average:

RCAA                  A.L. LEADERS
1    Milton Bradley               32
2    Josh Hamilton               21
3    Grady Sizemore            20
4    Manny Ramirez            18
5    B.J. Upton                     17
T6   Johnny Damon             16
T6   Carlos Quentin             16
T8   Joe Mauer                    15
T8   Nick Markakis               15
T8   Jack Cust                     15

On the mound, it's the revamped Mike Mussina finding new ways to stay ahead of the hitters at the age of 39. And of course the inimitable Mariano Rivera is getting better with age, as if he weren't good enough already.

With Jorge Posada back behind the plate, the Yankee offense is whole for the first time this season. They are bound to score a lot more as the summer wears on, provided they can stay out of the trainer's room and Derek Jeter can get on base.

The emergence of Darrell Rasner has also been unforeseen. 5 of his 6 starts have been excellent. He deserves a better fate then his 3-3 record suggests. The fielders love to work behind him because he pitches quickly. With 23 Ks and only 5 BBs, his 4.6-1 K/BB ratio is very good. An ERA of 2.58 and ERA + of 159 are also extremely positive. It's still a small sample size with Rasner, but you have to be pleased. 

For the pessimists, there is the simple fact that the Yanks can not go on a sustained winning streak with such a shaky pitching staff. They seem to be forever hovering at the .500 mark.

There may be a very good reason for that: They are a .500 team.

Chien-Ming Wang can't get his sinker down and seems reluctant to turn to his slider. Andy Pettitte has not been sharp in several starts. After giving up 10 runs in 6 1/3 innings to Kansas City, he told reporters: "I'm going to be frustrated, and it's not going to be a secret. If I don't get the job done, if I don't give us a quality start, if I don't pitch into the seventh inning or so, I'm going to be upset with the way I'm pitching." 97 hits in 79.1 innings. Ouch.

How strange was Saturday's game? The starting pitcher gives up 10 earned runs, and his team wins. Paging Elias…

Adding to the pitching woes, at least in the short term, is the Joba pitch count saga. Until Joba can stretch it out to 6 or 7 innings, the bullpen will be further taxed. And if you haven't noticed, the bullpen is rather taxing itself.

At this juncture, the Yanks are last in the league in starter innings, getting just 52/3 per game from their starters. No team has ever won a pennant while being last in the league in innings per starter.

For the record, Joba clearly belongs in the starting rotation for too many reasons to print here. But Cashman and company must find that 8th inning guy to replace him. It's not going to be Kyle Farnsworth for long. He was horrible in 2006. He was horrible in 2007. And he's horrible this year. At least the man is consistent.

No one thought Hughes and Kennedy would be this bad. It's hard enough to compete with two rookies in the rotation, but when they combine to go 0-7 with an 8.26 ERA, it's quite another thing.

As far as the manager goes, I have been a vocal supporter of Joe Girardi since the get-go. But he's got to stop the foolish bunting. It's beyond ridiculous to bunt Derek Jeter in the first inning. It's possible that Derek was acting on his own, but this was a clear sacrifice situation Saturday against Kansas City. This guy makes $20 million to make outs and prevent big innings? Hmmm.

Watching Robby Cano bunt is much, much worse. No one ever taught him how to bunt, so why try it in the big leagues with the game on the line? The bunt should be banned. But if one must bunt, the manager shouldn't ask a guy he knows can't bunt to lay one down. The results are too predictable.

I'm actually in favor of sending Cano down to Scranton for a few weeks. He's a much better player than he is showing and the wake-up call might have a good long-term effect on his career.

So what Yankee team will emerge this year? I will stay by my pre-season prediction of an 85-87 win season. Despite the payroll, it is a rebuilding year for the Yanks, although no one in the front office would ever want to admit it.