Randy Johnson's back is out:

Yankees lefty Randy Johnson has a herniated disc in his lower back, an injury that could prevent him from pitching in the playoffs next week.

The injury was discovered during an MRI exam Thursday. After being examined by team physician Dr. Stuart Hershon and back specialist Dr. Paul Kuflick, Johnson received an epidural injection Friday.

"Hopefully that will ease the discomfort," New York manager Joe Torre said. "If it doesn't ease the discomfort, I'm not sure he's going to be able to pitch. But we don't expect that to be the case."

A healthy Wang, Johnson and Mussina can hold opponents' runs low enough to give the Yankees excellent offense a chance to win. In a five game series, you could see the Yankees find three wins in four starts by that trio. In a seven game series, with those three starting six of the games, you could see the Yankees winning four. But with just Wang and Mussina? Lidle and Wright are iffy at best. The Yankees road to the World Championship just got tougher.