As Pettitte settles down, Yanks come back

Andy Pettitte’s evening began rather inauspiciously at Safeco Field Saturday night.  Though the Yankees eventually won 4-2, it didn’t look like Pettitte would hang around for a while.  Ichiro Suzuki led off with a single, followed by a Franklin Gutierrez single, a Jose Lopez RBI single and an RBI groundout from Ken Griffey Jr.

After retiring four of his next five batters via the strikeout, he had trouble with the Mariners’ top of the order in the third inning.  Suzuki led off with a single and Gutierrez walked.  But after that, Pettitte closed the door.

When the dust settled, he struck out a season-high 10 batters over six innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs.  For the second straight game in Seattle, the Yankees’ starting pitcher struck out 10.  Pettitte, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett now each have one game of double-digit strikeouts this season.

The Yankees began their comeback in the second when Jorge Posada doubled off the top of the right center field wall.  The play was reviewed, but the call stood.  Jerry Hairston Jr. eventually drove Posada home on a fielder’s choice to halve the Mariners’ lead.

For the next few innings, Seattle’s starter, Ryan Rowland-Smith, held the Yankees in check.  However, in the fifth, he was hit with some bad luck.  Melky Cabrera singled with two outs and took second on a wild pitch.  Derek Jeter followed with a single through the left side of the infield, somehow getting under both Josh Wilson’s and Jack Hannahan’s gloves to score Cabrera and tie the game.

The game remained tied at 2 until Mark Teixeira led off the ninth with a solo home run against Mark Lowe.  The Yankees would add another on Nick Swisher’s RBI single following Robinson Cano’s bloop double.

New York is now 30 games over .500 and remain 6.5 games ahead of Boston following a dramatic comeback of its own in Texas (they scored six runs in the ninth to win by four).  Sergio Mitre gets the ball tomorrow night.

Teixeira: Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images
Pettitte: AP Photo