Andy Pettitte was talking about CC Sabathia, gushing how in the season’s second half, he doesn’t think the ace lefty slogged through even one rough outing.
Similarly — and perhaps surprisingly — Alex Rodriguez hasn’t had a single poor postseason game, either.
Rodriguez continued to star last night, taking his superb ALDS performance and extending it to the start of the ALCS. In the Yankees’ 4-1 Game 1 victory over the Angels at the Stadium, Rodriguez singled, walked and drove in the night’s first run — providing the Yankees a lead that would last all game.
PHOTOS: YANKEES BEAT ANGELS TO TAKE ALCS LEAD
Rodriguez now has reached base eight times in this season’s four playoff games, reaching base twice in every contest. He has gone 6-for-13 (.462) and driven in seven runs.
How does A-Rod look right now at the plate?
“Unbelievable,” Pettitte said. “He looks just as relaxed as I’ve ever seen him and as confident as I’ve ever seen.”
Rodriguez kicked off the scoring in the first inning when, with men on second and third and one out, he lofted a sacrifice fly to center off John Lackey, giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead. A-Rod singled to center in his next at-bat before walking in the fifth, which led to his one gaffe.
Rodriguez was on first base with one out when Hideki Matsui doubled to left-center. Rodriguez tried to score all the way from first, and he was out at home on an awkward slide/collision with catcher Jeff Mathis.
A-Rod admitted he ran through a stop sign.
“Once I saw the ‘go,’ I put my head down,” he said. “And it was my mistake.”
Rodriguez said he was fine physically after the collision — and he certainly feels strong at the plate.
“I feel pretty good,” he said when asked if this was the most confident he has felt at the plate in the postseason as a Yankee. “I felt pretty good in ’04, too. But one day at a time.”
Since A-Rod returned from right hip surgery, the Yankees — including the playoffs — are an impressive 94-44, and his at-bats are a big reason why.
“Calm. Smooth,” Nick Swisher said of how Rodriguez’s at-bats look. “He seems very relaxed and I think that’s a great thing.”