It appears all but a formality for the Yankees to name Carl Pavano their opening day starter.

Pavano did not do anything to take himself out of the mix for that start Tuesday. He gave up two earned runs on six hits and a walk in six innings in the Yankees' 3-2 loss to the Twins in Fort Myers, getting 14 outs on ground balls, including four double plays. Nothing is official yet, though.

“Because we saw this doesn't mean it automatically makes him a day one starter,” Manager Joe Torre said. “It's certainly nice to see. He's come a long way. He's come a long way.”

Torre is reluctant to name Pavano the starter yet, both due to his history of injuries and to avoid unforeseen developments. He had planned for Chien-Ming Wang to start Monday at Yankee Stadium, but had not publicly announced that before Wang strained his right hamstring Thursday.

If and when Pavano is told he will be the Yankees' opening day starter, he knows he was not the first choice. Wang would have had that honor if healthy, and their start schedule at the time of Wang's injury knocked Mike Mussina and Kei Igawa out of consideration. Andy Pettitte and Jeff Karstens were both ruled out for health reasons.

“The fact that I'm healthy, if they give me the ball, they're kind of forced,” Pavano said. “That's the way it is. I hope they're comfortable with me.”

Pavano said that in a simply-the-facts type of way, not self-deprecating. But he knows that he has not pitched in the majors since June 2005 and needs to regain the club's confidence after a series of injuries.

By pitching well this spring, Pavano has begun that process. In five spring outings and 18 1/3 innings pitched, he has a 4.91 ERA. He has also managed to stay healthy.

“I'm excited about him,” catcher Jorge Posada said. “He's worked really hard, doing a lot of things right.”

Posada said Pavano looks better now than he did in early 2005, in the months after he signed his four-year, $39.95 million contract with the Yankees. In Posada's view, Pavano now has more life on his fastball and more movement than he did then.

Pavano got into some trouble Tuesday. Most of it came in the second inning, when four consecutive singles led to a pair of runs. That was the only inning the Twins had multiple baserunners other than the first, when he walked one and another reached on an error by shortstop Chris Basak.

“I thought he was really good,” Torre said. “When they scored the two runs, they hit one ball hard.”