Andy Pettitte has always felt comfortable pitching in Baltimore and on Sunday afternoon he made himself right at home.
The old lefty twirled a gem, Johnny Damon went deep and Derek Jeter put the game away with a three-run double in the ninth as the
Yanks subdued the Orioles 7-1. The win snaps a three-game skid and brings the Yanks back up to .500 as they head toward their first off-day of the season.
The Good:Andy Pettitte. The southpaw wasn't throwing as hard as he usually does (if the radar gun is to be believed), but he had his entire repertoire working for him. Pettitte retired the first 14 Birds he faced and didn't walk a single batter in his seven innings of work. There may be a lot of miles on Pettitte's left arm, but the big guy still knows how to pitch and right now that's a rarity in the Yankee rotation. Pettitte improved to 3-1 on the season with this sparkler: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 WP.
Johnny Damon. The Yankee outfielder has been scrapping, but he got the biggest hit of the afternoon in the seventh inning. With the Bombers up 2-0, Damon blasted his second homer of the year against right-handed submariner Chad Bradford to double the Yankee lead to 4-0. It was a curious call to bring in a side-winding righty to face the lefty Damon, but I guess Damon's poor numbers in his limited career at-bats against Bradford (1 for 5) was the reason. Maybe this two-hit performance will get Johnny off and running. Damon finished 2 for 4 with a walk, 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs.
Derek Jeter. The Captain had gotten at least one hit in every game since returning from his quad injury entering Sunday's contest and the hits kept coming. Jeter laced two doubles and is hitting a robust .385 since retaking his familiar spot at shortstop. It could have been higher, but O's centerfielder Adam Jones robbed Jeter of a hit with a dazzling catch in the seventh. This game was a nip-n-tuck affair for most of the day, but DJ's bases clearing three-run double in the ninth put the game on ice. Jeter finished 2 for 5 with 3 ribbies.
The Bad:Joba Chamberlain. Joba came into the game in the eighth and promptly gave up a double and a single before the skies opened and the game was delayed. When play was resumed, Chamberlain's day was over after only seven pitches. Chamberlain pitched for the first time since April 10 in last night's loss, but the rust is still evident. No big deal, but the kid was charged with giving up his first run of the season. Chamberlain's afternoon: 0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K.
The Ugly:Another quad injury.
Alex Rodriguez strained his right quadriceps running out a ground ball in the sixth inning. It didn't look like anything serious, but Joe Girardi and the Yanks took A-Rod out of the game. The Yankees may not look like the Yankees without Derek Jeter, but the Yankees will have all sorts of trouble scoring runs (and it's not like they're scoring them in bunches, anyway) if A-Rod misses an significant time. Rodriguez is listed as day-to-day.
No game on Monday as the Yanks fly to the Windy City to take on the ChiSox in a three-game set beginning Tuesday night. The off day allows Girardi to rearrange the Yankee rotation (thank goodness) so younglings Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy will be broken up. Chien-Ming Wang (3-0) will take the hill Tuesday night and will go against former Yankee Jose Contreras (1-1). Wang pitched terribly in his last start against the Red Sox, but has pitched well in his career against the Pale Hose. The Yankee ace is 2-0 in three starts with a 2.57 ERA. Contreras started the season on a rocky note, but he won his first game last week against the Orioles (7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K). JC is 2-4 in six career starts against New York with a 3.96 ERA. Check out
Tremendous Upside Potential for a White Sox fan's point of view on the upcoming series.
The Yanks have looked sluggish (especially on offense) so maybe the day off will recharge the Bombers' batteries.
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I guess we can call him Day to Day-Rod for now.