The Yankees received a huge boost from the GOP yesterday, and it had nothing to do with John McCain‘s inclusion in the Stadium crowd.
Gallery: McCain & Giuliani At Yankee Stadium
This GOP – Grand Old Pettitte – simply put the Yankees on his shoulders for eight innings (two more than McCain lasted in the front row near the Yanks’ dugout) and carried them through the 92-degree heat.
“The story of the day was Andy Pettitte . . . he was absolutely incredible,” Alex Rodriguez said after the Yanks’ 2-1 victory for a three-game sweep of the Athletics.
The Yankees needed incredible on a day the opposing pitcher was the major league’s ERA leader, Justin Duchscherer. It also didn’t hurt having Mariano Rivera for the ninth inning or Jose Molina in there to end another game.
A day after Molina was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to push across the winning run in the 12th inning, he threw out pinch runner Rajai Davis in an attempted steal of second base for the game’s final out.
The Yankees (53-45) moved eight games above .500 for the first time this season and trail Tampa Bay by 4½ games in the AL East, with the Twins headed to The Bronx for a three-game series beginning tonight. Then come three games in Boston.
Pettitte (11-7) allowed five hits, struck out nine and did not walk a batter, marking the seventh time this season he held an opponent to one run or less.
“I got tired,” Pettitte said. “It was hot and I got gassed. The last couple of innings I was just trying to focus on my mechanics and not overthrowing.”
Pettitte was certainly happier than he was seven days earlier following a loss in Toronto, when he said the Yankees “stink” and had to improve.
But the team’s 3-0 start following the All-Star break has Pettitte a little more optimistic than he was a week earlier.
“I wear my feelings on my sleeve a little bit,” Pettitte said. “I expect an awful lot out of us and myself. Maybe I was a little harsh. Maybe I should have said, ‘I stink’ more than anything. But we’re the New York Yankees.”
Oakland got to Pettitte for a run in the sixth on Ryan Sweeney’s RBI single, but the lefty got Bobby Crosby to bounce into an inning-ending double play, keeping the game at 1-1.
“Today [Pettitte’s] control was probably as good as I’ve seen it,” Derek Jeter said. “He was hitting every spot he was trying.”
Jason Giambi’s shot down the right field line in the bottom of the sixth nestled a few rows deep in the lower deck, giving the Yankees their margin of victory. The homer was Giambi’s 20th – tying him for the team lead with Rodriguez.
The Yankees had taken a 1-0 lead against Duchscherer (10-6, 1.87 ERA) in the third on Rodriguez’s sacrifice fly. Jeter, who had doubled with one out, tagged from third and barely beat Sweeney’s throw from right field. Two innings earlier, Sweeney had thrown out Rodriguez attempting to score from second on Robinson Cano’s single. It was the second time in the series third-base coach Bobby Meacham waved home A-Rod only to watch Rodriguez get thrown out.
In the ninth, Rodriguez earned his keep for the day, backing up second base on Crosby’s fly to right field with Sweeney at first. Bobby Abreu was ruled to have dropped the ball, and sailed his throw above Derek Jeter in an attempt to get the force at second. But Rodriguez picked up the ball and flipped to Jeter for the out.
“Right place,” Rodriguez said, “at the right time.”
mpuma@nypost.com