Yankees 4

Tigers 2

The Yankees issued six walks last night. They couldn’t manage a single extra-base hit. And they saw Jose Contreras suffer not only a bout of wildness but also a mildly sprained left ankle.

And yet, thanks to Bernie Williams’ eighth-inning RBI single that snapped a 2-2 tie, they still won a 4-2 game at the Stadium.

THAT’S how bad the Tigers are.

“We had to struggle to beat those guys,” Joe Torre said. “I’m just glad we did.”

Indeed, while it was ugly, the Yankees will take the win against the 37-106 Tigers, especially considering Boston also won against Baltimore. So the lead is still 3½ games, four in the all-important loss column.

As for Contreras, X-rays were negative and he insisted that he’d be able to make his next start.

“Initially, I thought it was a lot worse,” he said. “But the pain alleviated a little bit and now I feel a lot better.”

After Jorge Posada’s two-run single in the first gave the Yankees a 2-0 lead, the home team was blanked until the eighth. Then Posada drew a one-out walk off reliever Fernando Rodney (the catcher was replaced by pinch runner Drew Henson) and Ruben Sierra singled, bringing up Williams.

The centerfielder followed by lining a single to right, but Henson stumbled around third base, tripping and causing the Tigers to believe that he missed the bag (an appeal was denied and Henson insisted that he touched it, saying his foot slid off it). Still, he recovered and scored in plenty of time to give the Yankees the lead.

Meanwhile, the words “Williams” and “game-winning hit” are quickly becoming glued together this week. Williams, who was Sunday’s hero with his two-run homer off Boston’s Jeff Suppan, had gone 0-for-7 since that blast, but he certainly delivered when it mattered.

“We couldn’t have had a bigger hit,” Torre said. “He’s a pro and, hopefully, this is the time of the year when he does his best work.”

“I’m just trying to keep my approach consistent,” Williams said. “Down the stretch, it’s very important that I can contribute to the ballclub.”

As for Contreras, he was sensational early, bobbing his forkball like a yo-yo and after three innings, causing no-hitter buzz to swirl around The Bronx. But he began to unravel in the fourth, narrowly escaping after allowing two hits and a walk. And in the fifth, he allowed a run on consecutive singles to Brandon Inge, Ramon Santiago and Alex Sanchez – the latter resulting in Contreras’ injury.

The speedy Sanchez bunted toward the first-base side of the mound, but when Contreras shifted over to field it, he slipped, appearing to wrench his left foot as his cleat slipped off.

“I tried to take off to field the ball a little too quick and I wasn’t able to plant my foot,” Contreras explained.

Contreras remained in the game but he clearly wasn’t the same, favoring his right leg and walking two of the next three hitters to force in a run.

“I don’t think [the injury] really affected me,” Contreras said. “I just couldn’t finish my pitches and the pitches just didn’t go exactly where I wanted them to go.”

Contreras walked four overall and threw just 51 of 94 pitches for strikes. It was an imperfect performance on an imperfect night. The Yankees will take the win just the same.