Understanding the need for experience if the ALCS against the Rangers goes the distance, the Yankees yesterday named Andy Pettitte to pitch Game 3 Monday night at Yankee Stadium.
That means should a Game 7 be required to send the Yankees to the World Series, the veteran left-hander would get the assignment.
In both cases Pettitte will face Rangers ace Cliff Lee. It’s just the latest tough chore the Yankees have handed Pettitte throughout his borderline Hall of Fame career.
CC Sabathia starts Game 1 tomorrow night in Arlington and will be opposed by fellow lefty C.J. Wilson. Phil Hughes, who will make his second postseason start after pitching brilliantly in the ALDS against the Twins, goes in Game 2 Saturday. After Pettitte in Game 3, A.J. Burnett starts Game 4 Tuesday in The Bronx followed by Sabathia in Game 5.
“Hughes [has done well] on the road and he has pitched well in Texas,” general manager Brian Cashman said.
The Yankees also announced no roster changes from the ALDS. Despite not having home-field advantage, the Yankees have been installed as almost 2-to-1 favorites.
Manager Joe Girardi will address the reasons for Hughes in Game 2
and Pettitte in Game 3 today at The Ballpark in Arlington, where the Yankees will work out.
Hughes is 2-0 without allowing an earned run in three career games (two starts) against the Rangers, all of which have been in Texas. On May 1, 2007 Hughes fired 61⁄3 innings of no-hit pitching in Texas in his second big league start before leaving with a leg injury.
Pettitte, who is 19-9 in the postseason, is 11-9 with a 5.24 ERA in 23 career games against the Rangers. Pettitte has made 41 postseason starts and his 19 wins are the all-time record.
Cashman said there never was another choice for Game 4 than Burnett, who struggled all year and was dropped from the ALDS rotation.
Yesterday, before the Yankees announced the rotation, the emphasis was on Lee before and after a Yankee Stadium workout. Lee is talented, has an impressive October resume and certainly is in the discussion about who is the best pitcher left in the postseason.
Nevertheless, he isn’t the only hurler for the Rangers. And if the Yankees don’t respect Wilson, Tommy Hunter and Colby Lewis, it won’t matter what Lee does in Game 3 next week.
The fascination with Lee is obvious. He is 6-0 with a 1.44 ERA in seven postseason games and has three complete games. He was almost a Yankee on July 8
and the Yankees are a big favorite to land him when free agency season opens.
Yet, as good as the 32-year-old is, he can’t pitch all seven games. That’s where the other hurlers come into play.
“We are not worried about Cliff Lee,” hitting coach Kevin Long said. “We are worried about who is pitching that day and putting together solid at-bats. We know what Cliff Lee can do and we will deal with that when it comes. Right now we have C.J. Wilson on our mind.”
The last time the Yankees saw Wilson was Sept. 10 in Arlington and they spanked him for four runs and six hits in three innings of a 6-5 Rangers victory on Nelson Cruz’s 13th-inning homer. In three starts this year against the Yankees he is 0-1 with a 5.66 ERA.
“He has electric stuff but he has some control and command issues,” Long said of Wilson, who was 15-8 with a 3.35 ERA in 33 starts.
Additional reporting by Dan Tomasino.
george.king@nypost.com