SI.com's John Donovan You know what has put the Marlins on the cusp of an unlikely World Series title? Looking for answers? Here are a couple of possibilities to consider. SPOTLIGHT HERO: Brad Penny Penny worked seven innings for his second win of the Series. He also delivered a two-out, two-run single in the second inning. Now the frontrunner for MVP. GOAT: David Wells Back spasms forced Boomer out after one inning -- the shortest outing by a World Series starter in 19 years. The Marlins quickly feasted on the Yankees' bullpen. GO FIGURE 17 -- Players who have hit pinch-hit homers in the World Series. Jason Giambi hit the first since Jim Leyritz went yard on Oct. 27, 1999. 25 -- Teams (out of 38) that won Game 5 of a deadlocked Series have gone on to win it all. 79 -- World Series games broadcasted by Tim McCarver, one more than previous record held by Curt Gowdy. Vin Scully is third with 72.

MIAMI -- The New York Yankees, let's face it, are in a pickle right now. Just about nobody expected them to be here, down a game with two to play in the World Series. Probably nobody at all. Heck, the Florida Marlins couldn't have expected this.

But now, suddenly, after all they've been through this season, after the spring training bitching and the bosses bickering, after that monstrous regular season and that miraculous win over the Boston Red Sox in the American League Championship Series, the Yankees are on the verge of cracking. The Evil Empire is crumbling.

The question is whether they can patch things together for two more games.

David Wells fell apart before our very eyes in a critical Game 5 loss by the Yanks, out with a bad back after only eight pitches. It could be the last time he'll ever pitch.

Jason Giambi, the $120 million first baseman demoted to designated hitter, never made it into the starting lineup because of a bad knee he aggravated by having to play defense the first two nights in Miami.

Alfonso Soriano isn't falling apart, but his reputation is. He was booted from the starting lineup after a terrible first four games.

Manager Joe Torre has tried to patch things together. He's messed with the lineup. He's used his pinch hitters. He's talked to different players. But it hasn't worked. It didn't work Thursday. And now the Marlins are just one win away from an improbable title.

"If you're going to win," Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said after the Marlins took Game 5, 6-4, putting them up 3-2 in this first-to-seven Series, "you have to have the best team. So if somebody goes down, somebody else has to pick it up."

It will take a team to pull this out, and the Yanks may yet have the best one. They'll have lefty Andy Pettitte pitch Game 6 on Saturday. He's been money when he's had to be. If they survive, they'll have ace Mike Mussina go on Sunday. He won Game 2.

The numbers, remember, say the Yanks aren't playing terribly. They're outscoring the Marlins, outhitting them, outpitching them. And though their defense hasn't been as good as Florida's, that hasn't been the difference so far.

No, the difference has been that the Yanks are cracking at the worst time and the Marlins are not. The New Yorkers have double-clutched in the clutch. They've fallen behind early in all three of their losses. They've come back all three times. But never enough.

Soriano has been terrible, with just three hits in 18 at-bats in the first four games before being benched Thursday. After his heroic homer in Game 7 of the ALCS, third baseman Aaron Boone has been just as bad as Soriano, hitting just .150 in five games.

Jeter and Bernie Williams and Hideki Matsui are all ripping the ball. Williams is hitting .429, Jeter .409 and Matsui .316. They've driven in 11 runs among them.

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And, still, the Yankees find themselves down 3-2 in the Series for the first time since 1981.

"You still look at it as we can do it," said catcher Jorge Posada, another World Series slacker (.133, with just two singles). "You just got to keep going."

The Yankees are nothing if not proud. That explains all the comebacks. That explains the fact that they are not panicking. But they'll need more than pride to win these last two games. They'll need more than that in Game 6.

They'll need good, long starts from Pettitte and Mussina, if it gets that far. That way they won't have to rely on a bullpen that has been unreliable. They'll need either Soriano or Posada, or preferably both, to start hitting, and for first baseman Nick Johnson and Giambi to help.

They'll need to keep from making the type of boneheaded mistakes that cost them two runs in a two-run loss in Game 5.

And, of course, they'll need to keep the Marlins from doing what they do best. Which is to get under the Yankees' skin.

"We need to go at them and attack them," Marlins center fielder Juan Pierre said. "That's the mentality we have to have."

The Yankees are in a mess, but they're not panicking. Maybe they should. But they're not.

There is a game to play Saturday. And, if it's up to the Yanks, another one Sunday.

The Yanks are showing some cracks, for sure. But they haven't fallen yet.

John Donovan is a senior writer for SI.com.