Pettitte turns back clock to deliver vintage performance
MINNEAPOLIS – Only 81 pitches had been thrown on the night, but in the bottom of the seventh inning, Joe Girardi was coming to the mound to take the ball.
It was the end of the night for Andy Pettitte, but he did not want to leave yet. He was pitching so strong and until the bottom of the sixth inning, was arguably pitching his best game of the season. For him, it was shock to him and any one watching that he was going to be removed from the game.
Leading 2-1 after the Yankees had gotten two homeruns in the top half of the inning to take the lead; Pettitte was pitching as if he had no plans on giving that lead back. However, Girardi had ultimate confidence that his dominant bullpen would be able to lock the game down for him.
For a while in that game, Pettitte looked like the same pitcher who in early September, was on the verge of pitching a perfect game when he got the first 20 outs in a row in at Camden Yards against the Orioles. Here, he was cruising through the first four innings before Michael Cuddyer singled.
It appeared as if he was going to cruise through the six the inning as he and surprisingly, Carl Pavano were locked in an unlikely pitchers duel. Pavano had yet to give up a run and Pettitte needed one more out to keep the score even. Suddenly, a walk to Denard Span and walk to Orlando Cabrera set things up for the AL batting champion. On the first pitch, Joe Mauer singled to left to score Span and gave the Twins a 1-0 lead.
As great as Pettitte was pitching, the lack of expected offense that was not there had place him on the wrong end of a 2-1 score. If he were going to lose this game, it would not be his fault as he was doing his part.
The Yankees rallied in the seventh when Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada each hit opposite field homeruns to give the Yankees the lead. Now, the ball was back in his hands to hold down.
It was for these moments that the Yankees made sure they were smart and brought back a man who is impervious to the term “pressure”.
Andy Pettitte lives for these moments. He has lived for them over the last 15 years, pitching in big games for years and most often delivering a memorable performance.
MINNEAPOLIS – Only 81 pitches had been thrown on the night, but in the bottom of the seventh inning, Joe Girardi was coming to the mound to take the ball.
It was the end of the night for Andy Pettitte, but he did not want to leave yet. He was pitching so strong and until the bottom of the sixth inning, was arguably pitching his best game of the season. For him, it was shock to him and any one watching that he was going to be removed from the game.
Leading 2-1 after the Yankees had gotten two homeruns in the top half of the inning to take the lead; Pettitte was pitching as if he had no plans on giving that lead back. However, Girardi had ultimate confidence that his dominant bullpen would be able to lock the game down for him.
For a while in that game, Pettitte looked like the same pitcher who in early September, was on the verge of pitching a perfect game when he got the first 20 outs in a row in at Camden Yards against the Orioles. Here, he was cruising through the first four innings before Michael Cuddyer singled.
It appeared as if he was going to cruise through the six the inning as he and surprisingly, Carl Pavano were locked in an unlikely pitchers duel. Pavano had yet to give up a run and Pettitte needed one more out to keep the score even. Suddenly, a walk to Denard Span and walk to Orlando Cabrera set things up for the AL batting champion. On the first pitch, Joe Mauer singled to left to score Span and gave the Twins a 1-0 lead.
As great as Pettitte was pitching, the lack of expected offense that was not there had place him on the wrong end of a 2-1 score. If he were going to lose this game, it would not be his fault as he was doing his part.
The Yankees rallied in the seventh when Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada each hit opposite field homeruns to give the Yankees the lead. Now, the ball was back in his hands to hold down.
It was for these moments that the Yankees made sure they were smart and brought back a man who is impervious to the term “pressure”.
Andy Pettitte lives for these moments. He has lived for them over the last 15 years, pitching in big games for years and most often delivering a memorable performance.
Jason Kubel would strike out for the first out of the seventh and Girardi was making that slow walk. It was to say “great job”, and Pettitte, always the competitor, wanted to continue.
People talk about guts, grit, and all of that other stuff that makes no sense and most often is out there when there are no other words to choose. However, when you are describing Pettitte, a man who has taken the ball for the Yankees for all of these years and at 38 years old, still shows that when it is all on the line, he can pitch a big game when called upon.
For the 32nd time in the playoffs as a Yankee (36 overall starts), the ball was in the veterans hand and his job was to pitch the team into the AL Championship Series for the first time in five years. With a 2-0 lead and looking to shut the Metrodome down for the Twins officially, that was no better man for the job.
Early debate going into the series was whether it should be Pettitte pitching this game or AJ Burnett. The left-hander had been spectacular in the second half of the season and it would have made perfect sense to start him in Game 2, as he was the Yankees second best pitcher as Burnett went into a six-week funk that began in August.
Instead, Joe Girardi wanted to have a man on the mound on the road in a hostile environment that would not succumb to the setting. Putting Burnett out there considering his nature for being rattled would have a risky proposition that could have blown up in the teams face and potentially damaged the season.
Having “Cool Hand Andy” out there made things feel all the better. While the team had failed in their last three Division Series, the primary reason being that they had pitched poorly causing their early exit. Now, with CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett, the two newcomers who were paid to right their pitching problems, coming through with strong outings, it was up to Pettitte to continue that trend.
He did exactly that.
What many forget was that Pettitte nearly did not come back to the team this year. After all the money that was spent in free agency, the team had room for one more spot and did not want to trust one of their younger pitchers who flopped in 2008 to be given chance.
The Yankees were even planning to cut his pay. His $16 million salary being reduced to less than $6 million and incentives he would have to reach to earn more.
Pettitte had pitched a strong first half of last season, but suffered through shoulder problems in the second half. With the injury getting worse and the Yankee playoff probability decreasing as the games were running out, he continued to pitch to try to keep their chances alive because there were no other suitable alternatives. The end result was the worst three months of his career.
He was in his upper-30’s and pitching with decreased pitching prowess and stuff. Perhaps he had seen his better days and his final lasting memory would been leaving the mound at Jacobs Field in Game 2 of the 2007 Division Series leading 1-0 after seven inning in a game the Yankees thought would tie the series before the Lake Erie midges emerged to snatch victory away.
Now, there was not a need to worry. The Yankees got those final eight outs to make Pettitte a winner and are now four wins away from going to back to a World Series for the first since before he left.
Even now, Andy is still “Old Reliable”.
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