(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N.Y. Yankees | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 |
| L.A. Angels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
In a rotation with CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Javy Vazquez, Andy Pettitte has been the Yankees best pitcher over the first 17 games. After today's victory over the Angels, Andy is 3-0, with a minuscule 1.29 ERA, and today was the best we've seen so far. In 8 innings, the southpaw allowed just one run on five hits, did not walk a batter, and struck out eight.
An Erick Aybar leadoff double in the sixth led to the Angels only run, which came in on a Torii Hunter sac fly. Besides that the Angels were kept pretty quiet all day. Pettitte had everything working, and kept the Angels off balance with a good mix of all of his pitches. Here's the pitch breakdown via Brooks Baseball:
- 4-Seam FB: 49 (61.22% strikes)
- Cutter: 21 (61.90% strikes)
- Curveball: 21 (71.43% strikes)
- 2-seam FB: 16 (75% strikes)
- Changeup: 7 (71.43%
While Pettitte was breezing through the Angels lineup, Joel Pineiro wasn't having the same luck against the Yanks. Just ten days after dominating the Yankees in the Bronx, the right-hander got lit up for six runs on 11 hits in six innings of work.
Robinson Cano, who continues to impress in the fifth spot in the order, was the offensive story of the game. Today, he picked up four more hits, including a two-out RBI single, and scored three runs. The four hits raised his average to a team-leading .369, to add to his other team leading totals: HR (4), RBI (13), total bases (42), OPS (1.057), runs (15), and hits (42-tied with Derek Jeter). He also seems to have put last year's struggles with RISP behind him, so far he's hitting .333 in those spots.
Brett Gardner also had a big day batting in the two-hole in place of the injured Nick Johnson. He went 3-for-5, including a triple, two runs scored, and a stolen base. It was his AL-leading ninth stolen base of the year. His average is now up to .340 and he's getting on base 44% of the time. If Johnson continues to struggle Joe Girardi might have to strongly consider moving Gardner up in the order, especially if he keeps hitting.
With Jorge Posada getting the day off, Francisco Cervelli chipped in with a big two-out two-run single in the fourth to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead at the time. I love how guys like he and Ramiro Pena always seem to make an impact when they get a start. Speaking of Pena, he didn't do much at the plate today, but made two very nice plays at third. The first was the defensive play of the game--a diving catch on a Juan Rivera liner hit to his left. It was a big play at the time because it was only 1-0 Yanks and the Angels had a man on first with one out.
Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher both had two-hit days, Jeter drove in one and Swish drove in a pair.After Pettitte was done, Damaso Marte came in and needed 11 pitches to retire the Angels in a scoreless ninth. They look to make it 6-for-6 in series wins to start the year tomorrow afternoon in Anaheim. Javier Vazquez makes his fourth start of the year for the Yanks, and he will be facing left-hander Scott Kazmir. Both pitchers have been struggling --Vazquez: 1-2, 8.27 ERA; Kazmir: 1-1, 7.45 ERA) so tomorrow could be a slugfest. First pitch is set for 3:35 p.m. and the game can be seen on YES.
| Hitters | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
| Derek Jeter, SS | 5 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .333 |
| Brett Gardner, LF | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .340 |
| Mark Teixeira, 1B | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .123 |
| Alex Rodriguez, DH | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .313 |
| Robinson Cano, 2B | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .369 |
| Nick Swisher, RF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .236 |
| Curtis Granderson, CF | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | .259 |
| Ramiro Pena, 3B | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | .111 |
| Francisco Cervelli, C | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .500 |
| Totals | 38 | 7 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | | |
| Batting | ||||||||
| 2B: Swisher (4, Pineiro), Teixeira (3, Shields, S). 3B: Gardner (1, Pineiro). TB: Jeter 2; Gardner 5; Teixeira 2; Rodriguez, A; Cano 4; Swisher 3; Cervelli. RBI: Swisher 2 (9), Cervelli 2 (5), Jeter (11), Cano (13), Teixeira (8). 2-out RBI: Cervelli 2; Jeter; Cano; Swisher. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Pena, R; Swisher; Gardner. S: Swisher. GIDP: Teixeira. Team RISP: 5-for-15. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING SB: Gardner (9, 2nd base off Shields, S/Napoli). | ||||||||
| Fielding | ||||||||
| Outfield Assists - Brett Gardner 1 | ||||||||
| DP - Pena-Cano-Teixeira | ||||||||
| Pitchers | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
| Andy Pettitte (W,3-0) | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1.29 |
| Damaso Marte | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Pitches-Strikes - Andy Pettitte 114-75, Damaso Marte 11-10 | ||||||||
| Ground Balls-Fly Balls - Andy Pettitte 9-5, Damaso Marte 1-2 | ||||||||
| Batters Faced - Andy Pettitte 28, Damaso Marte 4 | ||||||||
| PLAYER OF THE GAME: Andy Pettitte HONORABLE MENTION: Robinson Cano |
