ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Consider it a cold, sober awareness -- which is the best way to describe the Yankees' state of mind these days. They're somewhere between worrying about the Angels' sudden home-field advantage in this AL Division Series and a full-blown, bulletproof confidence that, as defending American League champs, nothing can make them bleed.

Joe Torre, for one, isn't naïve or arrogant enough to believe that. Quite the contrary. After watching the Angels pummel 29 hits in Games 1 and 2, the Yankees are more than impressed with their first-round opponents. And for all of Torre's delaying and waffling before finally announcing his ALDS rotation, he's sure glad the Yankees' two best starters -- Mike Mussina and David Wells -- are in position for Games 3 and 4.

	Troy Glaus has hit three home runs in the first two games of the series for the Angels.

Torre is hoping -- no, praying -- that Mussina and Wells don't commit the same mistakes that Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte did, which was to challenge the major leagues' toughest-to-fan lineup.

Pettitte, in particular, was still having trouble believing how tenacious the Angels were. In lasting just three innings on Wednesday, he allowed four runs and eight hits. The left-hander shook his head and said, "I just couldn't put them away, and believe me, I thought I made some good pitches.

"The tough thing about that lineup is that they're bad-ball hitters," Pettitte said. "I thought I had pretty good stuff, but they cover the plate really well. Whatever you throw, they'll make contact on you."

That's exactly why the Angels led the American League in hitting, standing up to the challenge of power pitchers like Clemens, or else frustrating finesse pitchers like Pettitte. That philosophy is in marked contrast to the Yankees' approach in 2002, which was swing-for-the-planets at-bats.

Still, despite the emphasis on power, the Yankees respect and even admire the Angels' zero-strikeout mentality.

"You look at their lineup, and no one was close to winning the battle, yet they led the league in hitting," said Jason Giambi. "That should tell you they're all good hitters, and they all get good at-bats. That's impressive."

So what, exactly, do the Yankees really think of splitting their first two games at home? It's all about perspective. One prism suggests the Yankees are lucky: they could've been down 0-2 had Mike Scioscia managed Game 1 a little differently, choosing to use Troy Percival in the eighth inning.

The other perspective is more forward-directed. Or as Giambi put it, "we're sitting pretty right now, because we haven't played our best ball, and we're still (tied) 1-1."

And Pettitte said, "with Moose and Boomer going, you have to figure we're in good shape. I mean, someone has to eventually dominate a game on them."

The Yankees have every right to look brightly towards the weekend. Mussina had a 1.22 ERA in his last seven regular-season starts, and Wells was the Yankees' most successful pitcher with a 19-win season. On top of that, the Angels will be leaning on Ramon Ortiz, who allowed a major-league high 40 home runs -- precisely the kind of elixir the Yankees' HR-dependant offense loves.

If the series is extended to a fifth game, logic says the Yankees would have the advantage. After all, the series would return to the Bronx, and the Yankees would give the ball to Clemens, their ace.

But is a Game 5 really in the Yankees' best interest? There's obviously no tangible dividend to playing at home, at least not in the postseason, and Clemens, for all his big-game excellence in 2001, was disturbingly mediocre against Anaheim in Game 1 on Tuesday.

He didn't make it out of the sixth inning, charged with eight hits and four runs, a victim of a 94-mph fastball that was impressive but small and incapable of smothering the Angels.

Would Clemens change his blueprint for a Game 5? Would he even get the ball from Torre?

Of course he would. If history has taught us anything about the Yankees manager, it's that he's loyal and believes in stability. To change pitchers this late in the season would be an open admission of panic. Instead, like everyone else in the Yankee family, Torre acknowledges Clemens had good, but not blow-away stuff in Game 1, and if there are adjustments to be made next time, he'll make them.

But that doesn't answer some of the small-but-impossible-to-ignore issues that face the Yankees. Jorge Posada and Robin Ventura (a combined 3-for-17) both look tired. Alfonso Soriano also absorbed a 97-mph fastball in the upper back from Percival on Wednesday, even though the second baseman insists he's fine.

And Torre himself found himself being squeezed by the long, mean tentacles of the world's second-guessers after he allowed Orlando Hernandez to pitch into the eighth inning in Game 2, allowing back-to-back homers after four previous shutout innings of relief.

To all these turbulences, the Yankees acknowledge there might be reason to arch an eyebrow, but certainly not to see stones trickling down the walls of the empire. Torre was able to compact his world into one, neat assessment -- devoid of both panic or swagger.

"We obviously have to pitch better for starters," Torre said. "We just need someone to shut the other team down."

Bob Klapisch of The Record (Bergen County, N.J.) covers baseball for ESPN.com.