Welcome back, Andy

Andy Pettitte was 2-4 with a 6.20 ERA in his last nine starts.

Tonight, however, he held the A's to one run over eight innings five days after his terrible, awful start against the Kansas City Royals. He also struck out six, walked run and gave up five hits.

Pettitte is traditionally a second-half pitcher, and while it technically hasn't started yet, the Yankees need Pettitte to come up big. Tonight's effort is obviously a step in the right direction. He is now 6-5 with a 4.64 ERA on the season.

He was buoyed by Hideki Matsui's sixth-inning grand slam - the only runs the Yankees would score on the night. Pettitte had been plagued by giving up leads and have one bad inning, but he was able to pitch a rather clean game.

Mariano Rivera recorded his 18th save of the season by pitching a scoreless ninth inning. He has now been used in five of the last six games.

With the victory, Pettitte tied Ron Guidry on the all-time Yankees' wins list with 170.

The Yankees will arrive in Houston later this morning to take on the Astros at 8:05. Joba Chamberlain, who has already arrived in the city, will make his third start of the season.

(AP Photo/Ben Margot)