Yankees Daily

The New York Yankees won over the Boston Red Sox by a score of 3-1.

It’s about that time. Yes, it’s about time to give credit where credit is due. In tonight’s game, in four of Andy Pettitte’s six innings pitched, he had runners in scoring position. Only one run scored. Is that the work of a veteran? Is that the work of a great player? Is that the work of some one who knows how to pitch? The answer? Yes to all three. Yes to ALL three. Andy Pettitte showed his mental toughness. He showed the world that you have to be perfect to beat Andy Dandy. That’s “Mr. Andy Dandy.” What Andy showed was a warrior mentality.

When I call Andy Pettitte a warrior, what I’m basically saying is that he is one who is engaged in or experienced in battle. Do Red Sox fans know many warriors in their life? Like Andy PETTITTE??

Yankee fans… Can you hold on a second? I have to take a step back and give an approving head shake to Andy Petttitte….

Ok. Wow, that was awesome what I just did. What a feeling.

The real target it clear. When another championship in the name of all Yankee fans every where. Andy Pettitte is a great tool we have to help us get there. Yankee fans? Welcome aboard.

Who would have guessed that Andy Pettitte wouldn’t of had a decision in this game? Folks, Yankee fans all over the world, he “did” have a decision. His decision and final outcome was “awesome.” That’s the best way to describe Andy who kept the Yankees in the game and had a pitching duel with John Lackey. Awesome. Come on, say it, it’s ok, Andy Pettitte was “awesome.”

The best part of the game was the ending. Curtis Granderson breaking hearts all over the place. Breaking Red Sox fans’ hearts with a home run BOMB off of Jonathan Papelbon in the top of the 10th inning. How did THAT one feel Yankee fans? I told you the Yankees were coming! Here they are!! Did you like what you see???

I, along with other Yankee fans every where look forward to more great pitching from Andy Dandy Pettitte and more clutch hitting from the Yankees all season long.

Photo: AP

I’m glad Andy Pettitte is  coming back.

In the past, I’ve always wanted young blood to take Andy’s spot whether it be Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain. I always wanted prospects in our rotation. I didn’t like when Andy re-signs with one year deals.

Now? I like having a veteran in the rotation. He’s proven over and over again how valuable he is. He’s only the Major League Baseball’s all-time postseason winner leader with 18. I actually had to look that up because I didn’t remember that.

I got down on him a little when he said he used performance enhancing drugs but for some reason, it doesn’t bother me much. It’s probably because he was honest about it and didn’t try to deny it.

It’s obvious he still has the urge and feeling to play baseball so I think he did the fair thing to the fans and his family by saying he’s not done yet. If you have the itch to play and you still can be productive, I say do it.

Here’s what Pettitte said yesterday…

“I want to help them try to do it again; that keeps me going,” Pettitte said. “You want to feel like you’re wanted. You want to feel like they think you’re still a huge part of what we’re doing here. You realize how special it is here, what a special group we have and you know it’s not going to be this way all the time.”

I feel he was the rock in our rotation during the Yankees’ play off run. What if he wasn’t on the Yankees last year? Would it of made a difference? I think it would. There would be no number 27 without number 46.

Andy Pettitte is a free agent which means he wants to play baseball in 2010.

I was never the biggest Andy Pettitte fan. I never disliked him but I never went crazy over him. I guess it has to do with the fact that I took him for granted all these years.

He went 14-8 with a 4.16 ERA in 32 starts in 2009. That wasn’t too bad but it was his guidance and wisdom he gave to the newest free agent pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett about pitching in New York that made him valuable.

Andy Pettitte was also a big time pitcher in the playoffs and out pitched some of the biggest named pitchers in baseball. The Yankees should sign him for that reason alone. If he misses some time in the regular season, so be it but have him ready for the playoffs.

He pitched the clinchers in the ALDS, the ALCS and the World Series so we know he’s a winner.

We all know that if the Yankees want Pettitte back, it would be easy to get him back because the Yankees have the resources to get him back.

Andy Pettitte has leverage however when it comes to resigning with the Yankees. The Yankees have only two reliable starters that are signed and that’s C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. Who else can you count on after that? The Yankees used a three man rotation in the World Series and Andy Pettitte was one of the pitchers used in the rotation.

Chien-Ming Wang is a question mark and you don’t know how he’s going to pitch after having shoulder surgery.

Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes have not fared well as starters so you know that the Yankees would want to sign another free agent pitcher.

The free agent market isn’t that strong and the best pitcher available is John Lackey even though he’s no slouch.

The Yankees gave Andy Pettitte five million dollars last year with five million in incentives which he reached. The question is who much should the Yankees offer Pettitte this time around after a strong post season?

Would it take 12 to 16 million to get him back? I don’t think another club would offer him that much but if the Yankees don’t offer him a bigger contract than this year, he might feel insulted and sign with another club.

The bottom line is, the Yankees need him back and I hope they get him to pitch again for the New York Yankees in 2010.

Sunday is supposed to be the first day of the week but to me, Monday is. I don’t like it. It’s like starting every thing all over again. I have to go shopping, I have to go to the bank, I have to clean my apartment. Ugh. My favorite day is Thursday. I like it because you know the end of the week is very near and that’s when all of my chores are done by.

The Yankees really made the Red Sox look bad this weekend. If I was a Red Sox fan, I’d feel really pissed off. The Red Sox can’t hit. The eighth inning was very exciting tonight. That’s when the Yankees kicked the door in and basically clinched the sweep. How fitting for steroid head Big Papi to make the last out. I’m going to feel good all week knowing that my Yankees swept the Red Sox. Hold my head up high and stuff.

The New York Yankees won over the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 5-3. Andy Pettitte started and got the win. Mariano Rivera got the save.

Damn, I didn’t start Johnny Damon in my fantasy league. He had a home run and scored two runs.

Alex made a nice defensive play in the bottom of the third.

Edwin Canarcion is terrible. How is he on a baseball team?

Pettitte scared me in the 4rth. Yowza.

I’m so impressed with the way Pettitte has pitched.

Melky, the hero with another great catch in the 7th.

I’m surprised Joe took Andy out in the 7th inning with two outs.

That curve ball Phil Hughes threw was deadly to strike out to Kevin Millar.

Nice bizzomb by Tex.

I wouldn’t of minded if the Red Sox got Halladay. The Yankees beat him good tonight. Five runs? Back to back home runs? Wow.

There was no way those bitches were going to get to Phil Hughes. He’s just too good. Phil has been getting into more trouble than usual however.

I didn’t like Mariano coming in in the 8th inning.

It’s weird watching Halladay pitch a complete game but give up five runs and lose.

They shouldn’t of shown that subway commercial because now I vawnt a sub LIKE A MOTHER FUCKING VAMPIRE.

Whoa, if Batista hit that ball off of Mariano in the ninth with two outs at Yankee stadium, it would have been gone. Mariano and Phil Hughes were both a little shaky.

Bottom Line: The Yankees won and beat the best pitcher in the league. For some reason, I see them having a harder time against Beckett just because of the situation when it comes.

Player of the Game: Andy Pettitte. I was very impressed by his performance. I never know what to expect out of him but tonight he really brought it.

The New York Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox by a score of 3-2. Andy Pettitte started and got a no decision. Phil Hughes got the loss.

One more home run and A-Rod ties Killebrew. A-Rod will probably be celebrated big time.

The look on Matsui’s face during at bats looks like the look of hopelessness at times.

They were talking about steroids. Michael Kay said some people don’t think the list should have been revealed. If it wasn’t then I bet players would still be taking steroids.

It’s hard to believe that there are fast white players in baseball. I thought all white people, like myself, where slow. There was no doubt Getz was going to score from first on that double in the third.

Jim Thome looks like Paul Bunyan but you have to wonder about steroids.

The upper deck in Yankee stadium in the olden days was never full.

Pettitte had a wicked slider going.

Swisher had three strikeouts. He made up for it with a home run in the ninth inning to tie it.

The Yankees made some sloppy defensive plays in the 7th inning and that cost Pettitte. Too bad for him. Pettitte slips and falls fielding a check-swing Jim Thome roller. Then the lead off man was aboard. Then the ball bounced off of A-Rod. Then a bad throw by Robinson Cano. That inning proved costly because the Sox went up by one.

I couldn’t believe Swisher tied it in the ninth inning. It was a nice home run shot. I’m not his biggest fan either. Thornton was throwing some serious gas too.

What a shame this game was for the Yankees however. Petttite pitched great and Coke had the ball go right off his glove for the winning hit for the Sox. Pettitte also pitched two quality starts in a row.

Player of the Game: Gavin Floyd, White Sox starter. Kept his team in the game all night.

The New York Yankees lost to the Oakland Athletics by a score of 6-4. Starting for the Yankees was Andy Pettitte and he got the loss.

I was happy to see Brett Gardner and Melky Cabrera in the lineup together. I like the youth infusion. Even though the Yankees and A’s were scoreless at the time, the A’s starter was throwing a no hitter and I was a little bothered by the fact that Melky bunted his way on for a hit. It seemed a cheap way to break up a no hitter.

Even though Brett Gardner grounded out in the fourth inning, I was amazed at his speed getting down the line.

Pure speed is what scored the Yankees first run. It was pretty awesome to see Derek Jeter and Brett Gardner race around the bases after Gardner tripled which allowed Jeter to score.

I was disappointed in the Yankees not being able to rock the A’s starter Gio Gonzalez. He had a 9.33 ERA to start the game. That was unbelievable to me.

I think Nomar might of been on steroids. How could he be so bad after being so great all of those years?

Andy Pettitte was dominant today. He was pitching his slider down and in to the right handed batters and they couldn’t hit him. What a shame though. He was pitching great all game and the A’s tied it in the seventh inning with small ball. Pettitte’s fate was then left up to Alfredo Aceves after Pettitte left the game with men on base. Aceves failed miserably.

Not only did Aceves let in three runs to score off of Pettitte, he let two of his own runs in. What could you do? Alfredo has been great all year. It was a bad time for Aceves to pitch poorly. He did come in with the bases loaded so you can’t expect a young pitcher to get out of it. I was hoping he wouldn’t of let so many runs in though.

Could you imagine if Andy Pettitte ever pitched in the mid 90′s? He’d be really dominant because he knows how to pitch.

Brett Gardner made two great diving catches in the eighth inning.

It was cool to see Derek Jeter’s parents clapping for him after he hit a home run in the eighth.

The A’s started to play sloppy ball again in the eighth inning.

I didn’t like the fact that Michael Kay got too excited after Robinson Cano flied out. I didn’t like it. He fooled me. As soon as Cano hit the ball, I thought it was a home run for sure because of Michael Kay.

I thought for sure the Yankees were going to come back in the ninth inning. Every thing seemed in place with two men on and no outs but it wasn’t too be.

Player of the Game: Starting pitcher for the A’s Gio Gonzalez. A stinky pitcher shut the Yankees down when he shouldn’t have.

The New York Yankees lost to the Los Angeles Angels by a score of 14-8. Starting for the Yankees was Andy Pettitte and he got the loss.

This game was all about the stink. Andy kept throwing behind in counts which made him have to throw the ball over the plate and when he did, the Angels smashed him. He’s not good enough to fall behind in counts. He threw too many balls.

This start by Andy was reminiscent of Joba’s start yesterday, great for two to three innings and then can’t hold a four run lead. Then Robertson comes in and starts nibbling at the plate and gives up three runs. He should never be allowed to come in with runners on base because the runners will score. The seven run inning the Yankee pitchers gave up was embarrassing.

I thought that Andy was going to hold the lead and get a win after the score was 4-1 in the fourth. I thought he would pitch well for at least two more innings. I was a little shocked and upset that he didn’t make it out of the fifth inning. The Yankees also lost to an Angel team that had their two best hitters out of the lineup, Torre Hunter and Vladimir Guererro.

Girardi should of brought in Bruney to get hit around instead of Phil Coke in the 8th inning in case the Yankees could use Coke tomorrow.

The Yankee hitters came to play but the pitching didn’t. I actually have nothing left else to say.

Player of the Game: Los Angeles catcher Mike Napoli

I also didn’t wait long to post this because I was upset with the Yankee loss. I’m not feeling too well because I have heart failure.

Will the Andy that pitched against Seattle giving up two earned runs over seven innings show up or the Andy that gave up six earned runs in six innings against Toronto show up? The good news is that Andy has a 2.79 road era compared to a 5.72 home era and the Yankees are playing at Los Angeles.

Here’s espn’s preview of today’s game…

Given the New York Yankees’ recent history in Anaheim, it’s not surprising that their eight-game road winning streak ended against the Los Angeles Angels.

The Yankees try to bounce back and notch a rare victory at Angel Stadium when the teams continue their three-game series Saturday.

New York (51-35) was on its longest road winning streak since a nine-game run from April 20-May 5, 1998, but its run ended in ugly fashion with a 10-6 loss Friday. The Yankees blew leads of 4-0 and 5-1, committed two errors and fell for the 15th time in their last 20 games at Anaheim.

“We gave them extra outs. The extra outs killed us. When you’re playing that team, you can only give them three outs an inning,” said shortstop Derek Jeter, who dropped a popup in the seventh that led to Erick Aybar’s three-run homer. “They took advantage of a couple of mistakes and scored a lot of runs. They’re not going to beat themselves. They put pressure on the defense and they pitch well.”

Kendry Morales also had a three-run homer as Los Angeles (47-37) avoided its second three-game home slide of the year. The offensive outburst was a timely one for the Angels, who placed sluggers Vladimir Guerrero and Torii Hunter on the disabled list before the game.

“You don’t see Erick hit home runs very often, you don’t see him miss one by a couple feet foul and then come back and hit one,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “Two good at-bats and we needed them.”

New York’s Mark Teixeira went 1 for 5 with two runs in his first game in Anaheim since leaving the Angels as a free agent in the offseason. He was showered with boos throughout the night.

Both teams are in second place in their divisions. The Angels are one-half game behind Texas in the AL West while the Yankees trail Boston by one game in the East.

The Yankees will face Jered Weaver (9-3, 3.15 ERA), who beat Texas on Monday by giving up four runs over seven innings of a 9-4 victory. He is 5-0 with a 1.57 ERA in seven outings against AL clubs at home this year.

The right-hander is 3-1 with a 6.11 ERA in five career starts versus the Yankees. He allowed four runs over six innings May 1 and didn’t get the decision in a 10-9 loss.

Numerous New York hitters have poor numbers against Weaver. Nick Swisher is 3 for 19 (.158), Teixeira is 3 for 16 (.188), Johnny Damon 3 for 13 (.231), Jeter 1 for 11 (.091) and Melky Cabrera 0 for 10.

The Yankees are 6-1 in road games started by Andy Pettitte (8-4, 4.53), who is 4-1 with a 2.79 ERA in those contests. Pettitte last pitched Monday at home against Toronto and gave up six runs over six-plus innings to suffer a 7-6 loss.

This will be the veteran left-hander’s second start against the Angels this year. He opposed Weaver on May 1, yielding five runs over 5 2/3 innings and not receiving a decision.

Pettitte is 12-8 with a 4.52 ERA versus Los Angeles, going 6-5 with a 3.79 ERA in 14 outings in Anaheim.

From Bryan Hoch

NEW YORK — Andy Pettitte endured a rough afternoon and the bats went mostly silent against an unfamiliar arm, as the Yankees were denied a four-game series sweep by the Blue Jays in a 7-6 defeat on Monday at Yankee Stadium.

Hoping for his third win in four starts, Pettitte was tagged for six runs over six-plus innings, serving up a three-run home run to Alex Rios in the fourth inning and a solo blast to John McDonald in the seventh inning.

The veteran surrendered five hits, walking five and striking out three, as he took his first loss since June 13. Rod Barajas put the Blue Jays on the board in the third inning with an RBI single off the yellow foul-line paint of the right-field wall, and Rios extended the lead in the fourth with his homer to left field.

After McDonald’s shot led off the seventh, Brian Bruney relieved and allowed a two-run double to Scott Rolen, offering Toronto a cushy lead. It was plenty for Jays starter Ricky Romero, who stymied the Yankees in his first career start against them.

The rookie left-hander limited New York to three runs over 6 1/3 innings, touched only for Eric Hinske’s solo home run through six frames before Swisher greeted reliever Brandon League with a two-run single in the seventh charged to Romero. In all, Romero walked three and struck out five.

New York added one run in the eighth, when Robinson Cano stroked a one-out double and Jeremy Accardo hit both Hinske and pinch-hitter Johnny Damon. Derek Jeter worked a full-count walk with the bases loaded, but Jason Frasor got Swisher to fly out to end the inning.

Hideki Matsui dropped a pinch-hit two-run single into shallow center field in the bottom of the ninth to bring New York within one run, but Frasor struck out Hinske swinging to send the Yankees to just their second loss in 12 games.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi was ejected by third-base umpire Marty Foster in the first inning, arguing on Jeter’s behalf after the shortstop was ruled out on a stolen-base attempt. It was Girardi’s third ejection of the season, having also been tossed on May 4 vs. Boston and June 24 in Atlanta this year.

I’m on vacation now.