ANAHEIM, Calif. - On Thursday night, the Yankees were one victory away from a triumphant return to the World Series.

Now, they are two losses removed from the worst postseason collapse in their history. Yes, this would be worse than coughing up a 3-0 lead to the Red Sox in 2004.

And trust me, it could happen a lot easier than you think.

Thursday night's 7-6 loss to the Angels, who suddenly seem to have remembered that their strategy of creating havoc on the basepaths only works if they in fact get on base, not only cut the Yankees' lead in the ALCS to 3-2.

It also raises the specter of another catastrophic failure, only for this one, there would be no excuse or any consolation. You see, these Angels are not nearly as good as the 2004 Red Sox. And these Yankees are a lot better than the 2004 Yankees. At least, they're supposed to be.

Despite having what looked like a commanding 3-0 lead in 2004, those Yankees had John Olerud at first base, Miguel Cairo at second and Gary Sheffield in right. The DH was, believe it or not, Kenny Lofton. And the rotation was Mike Mussina, Jon Lieber, Javier Vazquez, Orlando Hernandez and the fondly remembered Kevin Brown.

And as scrappy and speedy as the Angels may be, there is no Manny Ramirez in this lineup, no David Ortiz, no Curt Schilling or Pedro Martinez in their rotation, not even a Keith Foulke in their bullpen.

This year, having added $423 million in free agents, the Yankees seem to be in better hands. And yet, A.J. Burnett, their No. 2 starter, on Thursday night put them into a first-inning hole they spent the rest of the game climbing out of. If Andy Pettitte doesn't close out the Angels on Saturday night in Game 6 at the Stadium, they will be asking their ace, CC Sabathia, to win three starts in one series, a feat unmatched since the Tigers' Mickey Lolich did it in the 1968 World Series.

That may be too much to ask even of a stud like Sabathia.

Throughout this series, Angels manager Mike Scioscia's optimism has bordered on the delusional, especially after Tuesday's crushing 10-1 Game 4 loss.

"Our guys are confident," Scioscia said. "There's nobody in that clubhouse that's down. We're not out of it until we lose four games."

Now, he doesn't look crazy, just prophetic. Meanwhile, Joe Girardi, refused to discuss the prospect of a World Series matchup with the Phillies. "I'm just going to focus on the Angels," he had said, "because that is the task at hand right now."

That task seemed even tougher when the Angels took a 4-0 lead off Burnett. But after the Yankees rallied with six runs in the seventh, it all seemed to crumble for the Angels. Someone even had the chutzpah to wheel champagne into the Yankees' clubhouse in anticipation of a clinching party.

But the Yankees' bullpen has been combustible, too, and Burnett, Damaso Marte and most disastrously, Phil Hughes, allowed the Angels to retake the lead, 7-6, in the bottom of the inning.

The Angels' coronary closer, Brian Fuentes, loaded the bases before getting Nick Swisher to pop out to short to send the series back to New York.

"Well, we've got another game Saturday," Girardi said. "This is the time of year when everything gets a little bit tougher. We've had it happen to us before."

He meant lose a playoff game and come back to win.

They've had it happen the other way, too. But never as bad as this one would be. Not in 2004. Not ever.