ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Sept. 27  There is one nearly every October, a young reliever whose late-inning thunderbolts carry his team deep into the postseason. From Francisco Rodríguez to Bobby Jenks to Joel Zumaya, the story of hard throwers coming from nowhere is an annual fall hit.  The Yankees version is Joba Chamberlain, the right-hander who was instrumental to their comeback and may be crucial to their October success. After working a scoreless inning Wednesday, when the Yankees clinched a spot in the American League playoffs, Chamberlain did it again Thursday in Phil Hughess 3-1 victory against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Tropicana Field.  Chamberlain, 22, said he had never pitched on consecutive days in his life before this week. Yet he said he was sure he could handle it.  I knew how my arm would react, Chamberlain said. I had no doubt at all, from the get-go, that I could do it. I just had to be patient and understand that this whole thing was a process.  After allowing a leadoff double off the glove of first baseman Shelley Duncan in the eighth, Chamberlain struck out two of the next four hitters to escape the jam. He pumped his fist as B.J. Upton swung through a 96-mile-an-hour fastball to end the inning.  José Veras, another rookie making a strong case to be included on the postseason roster, followed with a scoreless ninth, earning his first save. Hughes (5-3) had worked the first seven, allowing four hits and striking out five in his final start of the regular season.  The Yankees gained a game in the A.L. East standings, pulling within two of Boston with three to play. But the priority, Manager Joe Torre stressed, was to get the team ready for next weeks division series, which is likely to be against the Cleveland Indians. Torre rested several regulars Thursday and will continue to do so in Baltimore this weekend.  Our goal is to get everybody ready to play Wednesday or Thursday, Torre said. We just need to give these guys time off because of how intense its been to get here.  The Yankees scored only once in six innings off Scott Kazmir, the former Mets prospect who struck out 10 and overtook Minnesotas Johan Santana for the major league lead in strikeouts, with 239.  Facing reliever Gary Glover in the seventh, José Molina singled in two runs to break a 1-1 tie and put Hughes in position to win. Hughes mixed more changeups and sliders than usual and said he was gaining arm strength after missing three months with injuries.  I feel like its May or June right now, as far as arm strength goes, and fatigue and all that, Hughes said. Not that theres ever anything good about getting hurt, but its kind of nice to not be feeling the 200-plus-innings effect.  Hughes went 3-0 with a 2.73 earned run average in five September starts, but unless a strained left hamstring keeps Roger Clemens out of the playoffs, Hughes is likely to be a reliever next month.  Except in spring training, Hughes has never pitched in relief. But Torre, who called this game the best Hughes has pitched, said he could still make an impact.  We just want to see everybody pitching as well as they can, and well work that out and see what we have, Torre said when asked if Hughes might start in October. But I dont think its really important where these guys pitch from, whether its out of the bullpen or in the rotation.  Torre did commit to starting Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte, in some order, in the first two games of the division series. If the Yankees play the series with a day off between Games 1 and 2, Torre could start Wang and Pettitte twice each if the series went the full five games.  That seems like it would be logical, Torre said.  Torre said Clemens was lined up to start Game 3 if he completed a simulated game on Monday in Tampa, Fla. Mike Mussina, who starts on Friday in Baltimore, would be the fourth playoff starter, if needed.  If the Yankees play the Indians  and no players seemed to pay attention to the Indians game playing on the clubhouse TV after the game  they would be confronted with the ace left-hander C.C. Sabathia, who is 18-7.  Sabathia is 1-7 with a 7.13 E.R.A. against the Yankees in his career, but he has not faced them since Sept. 1, 2004.  The Yankees won all six of their games against Cleveland this season  three in April, before they started to stumble, and three in August, when their surge was in full swing. Chamberlain struck out four in two perfect innings at Jacobs Field on Aug. 10.  The Yankees are hoping for more of the same next week, and now they know they can use Chamberlain whenever Torre wants. He could be the best setup man Mariano Rivera has ever had.  The playoffs is a totally different game, but hes been doing tremendous, Rivera said of Chamberlain. Hes going to be there. Were going to give him all the advice to have him enjoy the game. I dont worry about him.
Now that they have clinched a playoff spot, the Yankees can concentrate on preparing for their division series next week, when they will probably face the Cleveland Indians.