Desperate for a win, Yankees manager Joe Torre juggled his lineup Wednesday night in Game 2 of the American League Division Series against the A's. Unhappy with his offense in Tuesday night's 5-3 defeat, Torre made wholesale changes, hoping to generate a spark.

It took a while to ignite the fuse, but the Yankees finally caught fire in a 4-0 victory at Network Associates Coliseum to even the series. What a difference a day makes.

A's starter Kevin Appier sits dejected in the dugout after being removed in the seventh inning.(AP)

"This was a huge game for us,'' said winning pitcher Andy Pettitte, who limited the A's to only five hits in 7 2/3 innings. "We've been scuffling so bad.''

Torre's biggest change was moving right fielder Paul O'Neill from third to sixth in the order, the first time he has dropped that low since Sept. 4, 1997 against Baltimore. Needless to say, O'Neill wasn't pleased.

Torre also bumped up catcher Jorge Posada from seventh to second, subbed Glenallen Hill for Chuck Knoblauch as designated hitter, moved left fielder David Justice from fifth to third and pushed shortstop Derek Jeter from second to leadoff, hoping to get another at-bat or two.

"You're doing it just to sort of rearrange the furniture, trying to get something going,'' Torre said. "When you get to postseason play, your patience level is not what it is during the regular season, because you have a five-game series to deal with.''

For the Yankees, the fast start never materialized. They threatened Oakland starter Kevin Appier in the first inning, but couldn't break through. Appier issued two walks, then a single to Tino Martinez, the latter caroming off the glove of second baseman Randy Velarde. It was a great opportunity for O'Neill to vent his frustration and make a statement, but he failed to deliver, breaking his bat and flying out to right on a 3-2 pitch.

Had Appier walked O'Neill or allowed a big hit, who knows where it would have led? An 11-year veteran, this was the 32-year-old Appier's first postseason start and the butterflies had to be doing cartwheels in his chest.

"We used to call him the 'blowfish' because he huffs and puffs,'' said A's catcher Sal Fasano, his former teammate in Kansas City. "That's just his way of getting locked in.''

Nobody had to remind Appier, who refers to himself as the "wise old owl'' of the club, how huge a win against Andy Pettitte would be. Not only would it stake Oakland to a 2-0 advantage heading to the Big Apple, with young aces Tim Hudson and Barry Zito scheduled to pitch, it would end Pettitte's spell over the team. The hard-throwing lefty was 6-0 against the A's dating back to 1996 and beat them twice in New York during the regular season, going nine and eight innings, respectively, while surrendering two runs.

That said, an early breakthrough was critical for the A's, only it never came. They threatened with one out in the bottom of the first when Velarde walked and went to third on a single by MVP candidate Jason Giambi, but Pettitte made designated hitter Olmedo Saenz bounce into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.

"We could have turned the momentum around to our side,'' said Velarde. "To his (Pettitte's) credit, he neutralized it.''

Appier settled down and struck out the side in the fifth, the sellout crowd of 47,860 roaring its approval. Noisy fans were a rarity here during the regular season, with most turnouts averaging less than 12,000. That changed last month when Oakland caught and overtook Seattle to claim the AL West title.

Wednesday night, there were lines at the concession stands ... long lines. When ex-A's slugger Jose Canseco was shown in the New York dugout on an overhead television, a middle-aged woman clad in greed windbreaker armed with a polish and a beer pointed at the set and shouted, "Loser!''

Just when it seemed safe to trust Appier, the Yankees tagged him for three runs in the top of the sixth, all with two outs. After a double by Bernie Williams, Oakland manager Art Howe opted for an intentional walk to O'Neill to face Hill. Making Torre look good, Hill delivered a solid single up the middle to score Williams with the game's first run. Second baseman Luis Sojo followed with a two-run double past Giambi into the right field corner and Pettitte had a three-run cushion.

"When you're got the guys who can do the job, you can do anything with lineup,'' Sojo said.

The A's managed to bring the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the seventh after singles from Giambi and shortstop Miguel Tejada. But wouldn't you know it: hard-luck left fielder Ben Grieve, who hit into a major-league-record 32 double plays during the regular season and two more in Game 1, did it again. When last seen, Grieve was trying to knock down the left-field foul pole with his bat.

Oakland threatened again in the bottom of the eighth, putting two runners aboard, and chased Pettitte, but couldn't produce a clutch hit. It was the story of the game, a hard-earned lesson that Howe must convince his impressionable players to put behind them.

Not that New York is home free. The Yankees must face Hudson on Friday, and while it appears the 25-year-old ace has ice water in his veins, he has never appeared in a post-season game, let alone visited Yankee Stadium in October.

"I've never been the type of person to be awed by anything,'' he said. "If anything, I feed off it.''

Friday, we'll find out just how resilient these young A's really are.