Andy Pettitte gave the Yankees a scare yesterday, and it had nothing to do with his pitching.
The veteran lefty turned in a quality start in the 5-4 win over the Mets, but reached out for an ill-advised barehand play on a one-hopper in the sixth inning, departing two batters later with his hand bruised and swollen.
X-rays were negative and Pettitte, who had his hand wrapped and bandaged in the clubhouse afterwards, said he will throw his regular bullpen session Wednesday and be fine for his next scheduled start.
“Once the swelling gets out of it, I’ll be fine,” he said. “It swelled up. It hit me up high on the hand toward my fingers. It was just hard to throw. I couldn’t really feel the ball. It swelled up immediately and I had a hard time.’’
Pettitte left after a season-low six innings, having allowed three runs — all in the second inning.
“I believe I’ve got an extra day [of rest], so I don’t think it’s going to be any problem at all, as soon as I can get the swelling out of there and be able to feel the ball,” he said. “One good thing is with the swelling I couldn’t feel the ball, but with just your muscle memory you can throw the ball somewhat where you want to throw it.’’
Pettitte reached out to snare Scott Hairston’s one-hopper leading off the sixth. After manager Joe Girardi and trainer Steve Donohue ran out to check on him, Pettitte took awhile to throw his practice pitches as he waited for the pain to subside.
“I hate to grab it,’’ Pettitte said. “It’s just a reaction. I saw the ball and threw my hand up. It’s not a smart play obviously, but it was just a reaction play when you’re out there and all of a sudden you see the ball there.
“[The first couple pitches] were tough. I didn’t have a real good feel for the ball. At that time it was so close to hitting me, it didn’t feel real good. I was fortunate to get out of that inning. … It was hurting, and I needed a little while for the sting to lessen a little bit. I was just trying to buy a little time. I wanted to stay out there.’’
His muscle memory was apparently enough to fan Lucas Duda and retire Vinny Rottino. Pettitte retired 12 of the last 14 batters he faced, and picked off the two who reached. He caught Hairston stealing in the third and David Wright in the fifth, the 98th and 99th pickoffs of his career.
“It’s sore, got it right in the pad of his hand, almost like a catcher gets,” Girardi said of Pettitte’s hand. “Hopefully it won’t hinder his next start. He’s got an extra day, so he should be OK. You worry whenever a pitcher barehands and grabs a ball. [But] this is just a bruise.’’