Game 131 - Pettitte Nearly Perfect

Andy Pettitte loves pitching against Baltimore, as he improved his career record against them to an unbelievable 26-6 in the Bombers 5-1 win. His performance tonight was just as spectacular as his career has been against the Orioles. Pettitte was perfect for 6.2 innings till Scott Hairston, playing for a resting Arod, let a grounder go through his legs for an error in the 7th. Andy may have lost his focus, because Nick Markakis followed with an opposite-field hit on an 0-2 count to break up the no-hitter. The shutout would also disappear when Pettitte allowed a HR to Melvin Mora in the bottom of the 8th, but it didn't put a damper on his fantastic performance. He tossed 8 great innings of 2-hit ball with 0 walks and 8 strikeouts.

Nick Swisher continued his strange road/home splits by going 3-4 with a HR, double and 2 RBIs to lead the Yanks. Robinson Cano had 2 doubles and 2 RBIs, unbelievably knocking in both runs on a 2-out hit in the 8th. That's 2 days in a row he's done that, despite hitting less than .200 in those situations. This guy would be dangerous if he ever overcame his inexplicable inability to knock in runs. Despite his RBI-phobic tendencies, he has 72 RBIs for the season. If he hit near his average, he'd probably be leading the league.

Joe Girardi made things interesting in the 9th. Instead of going to a well-rested Mariano Rivera to seal the victory, he decided to use Brian Bruney in the non-save situation. I thought Mo could use the work. Bruney, of course, made Yankee fans, and I'm sure Pettitte, nervous, when he gave up a hit and walk sandwiched around an out. Girardi stopped fooling around though, and Mo earned his save, getting the final 2 outs to wrap up the 227th career win for Pettitte. With the win, the Yanks improved their lead to 6.5 games over the idle Red Sox.

Yankees Record: 83-48