ESPN Buster Olney Blog

Eight factors that, among others, will shape Game 6:

1. The Yankees' set-up men.

Phil Hughes was one of the best relievers in the AL for much of the summer, but he has had trouble locating his fastball -- and at the same time, Joba Chamberlain remains a complete enigma, sometimes throwing the ball well -- and sometimes generating very flat stuff.

So far in this postseason, Hughes and Chamberlain have allowed 16 hits in just 7.1 innings. "It looks like it takes Joba awhile to get loose and start dialing up the velocity," said one longtime talent evaluator. "His lack of deception is surprising; hitters look very comfortable in the box against him right now."

In fact, hitters look so comfortable in the box against Chamberlain that there has been some conversation/speculation within the Yankees' organization about whether the right-hander is tipping pitches.

"Hughes is puzzling to me," the evaluator said. "His fastball is pretty straight, but he has such good breaking stuff to make that fastball play a little bigger."

2. Joe Saunders and Andy Pettitte, the starting pitchers.

Both threw effectively in no-decisions earlier in this series: Saunders needed only 67 pitches to get through his final five innings of work in Game 2, and Pettitte had a nice outing going in Game 3 right up until the moment he left a cut fastball over the plate to Vladimir Guerrero, a pitch that resulted in a two-run homer.

Saunders will presumably pitch around Alex Rodriguez, and the guess here is that Jorge Posada will bat fifth in the Yankees' lineup tonight, so it'll be Posada who will be in position to do damage or to take down rallies.

Pettitte worked like crazy to slow down the Angels' running game, attempting 19 pick-off throws, yet it's pretty clear that the Angels are comfortable gambling against Pettitte on the bases; on several occasions, Los Angeles runners broke for second base at the instant Pettitte lifted his front foot. That means the pressure could be on Mark Teixeira to make good throws to second base.

Saunders is a new man since coming back from the disabled list, writes Doug Padilla. Pettitte is the right man for this job for the Yankees, writes Wallace Matthews. Regardless of what happens with the weather, Pettitte is going to get the ball in Game 6, writes David Waldstein.