Andy Pettitte has pitched well after Yankees losses, but yesterday he took the mound following a victory.
“Hopefully Andy can win after a win,” Joe Torre said. “We know he can win after a loss.”
Though Pettitte certainly is capable of keeping a winning streak alive, he didn’t do it against the Devil Rays.
Pettitte struggled through the first six innings, allowing a pair of runs, before taking the mound to start the seventh despite having thrown over 100 pitches. It turned out Pettitte faced at least one batter too many. With one out in the inning, Pettitte hung a curveball to Yankees castoff Carlos Pena, who homered to right, ending the left-hander’s day.
“That was the game right there, really,” Pettitte said after the Yankees’ 8-2 loss. “If you make a pitch right there and get out of the inning, it’s 2-1, even 3-1 and you feel like the offense is going to get going and score some runs. But that was it. I felt like that cost us the game.”
Pettitte’s final pitch to Pena, who has 34 homers, was his 119th on the day, tying a season high.
“I may have pushed the envelope a little bit,” Torre said.
The subpar outing spelled an end for Pettitte’s six-game winning streak. After going 6-0 with a 2.36 ERA in August, and winning his last three chances coming off Yankees defeats, Pettitte started off September by surrendering a season-high 11 hits. It was his worst start since giving up eight runs in consecutive outings in July.
“I felt great,” Pettitte said. “They sent me out there [in the seventh] with a lot of pitches. If you don’t make a pitch late in the game, it’s going to hurt you.”
Torre said he didn’t regret his decision to keep Pettitte on the mound after the lefty had allowed four baserunners and a run in the sixth.
“He was hell-bent on going out for the seventh,” Torre said. “And in a close game, we trust him as much as anybody.”
Especially against Tampa Bay. Pettitte had beaten the Devil Rays 12 straight times and entered the game with a 13-1 lifetime career mark against them. He insisted he didn’t suffer a letdown after beating the Red Sox his last time out.
“When I take the mound, with my approach, there’s not going to be a letdown,” said Pettitte, who fell to 12-8. “I don’t care who we’re playing. I’m going to bring the [same] intensity. I hope that’s the case with everyone else.”
Although Pettitte gave up five runs in 61/3 innings, Torre thought he did well.
“Andy didn’t do anything wrong,” Torre said. “It was another effective start.”
Just not effective enough.