Dandy Deliverer

It was a vintage Andy Pettitte performance on the mound at Camden Yards in Baltimore Monday night. The Yankees thwarted their familiar foes, the Orioles, behind the 37 year old southpaw, 5-1. Pettitte retired the first 20 batters he faced before the first Baltimore batter reached base in the seventh inning. The orange birds got on the board in the eighth, scoring their first run on a Melvin Mora homerun off number 46. Pettitte completed his masterful effort with three consecutive outs after the Mora blast.
The Bronx left-hander moved into sole possession of third place on the Yankees career wins list. His decorated and dominating deliverance against the Orioles was understated. Pettitte threw 104 pitches and allowed one run on two hits. He is now 26-6 lifetime against Baltimore, and the Orioles saw 73 strikes from the southpaw’s dandy arm last night. Pettitte was overpowering at times and affirmed after the game he was feeling really good about pitching a no-hit, perfect game into the seventh. The lefty recorded a pair of flyouts to start the inning. The Orioles were unable to muster a hit it seemed, until Adam Jones stepped strikingly to the plate. Jones slipped a one-out ground ball through the legs of Jerry Hairston, Jr. at third base to break up the no-hit bid. Hairston was filling in for Alex Rodriguez, and was charged with an error on the passed ball. Nick Markakis followed Jones with an opposite field single down the line to move the runner up a base. But, the man footing the mound escaped unscathed by inducing Baltimore left fielder, Nolan Reimold, into a routing grounder.
Andy was the victim of Mora’s sixth slam of the year, but was still able to secure his 12th victory of the season. Pettitte’s record improved to 12-6 while closer, Mariano Rivera, picked up his 37th save of 2009. Nick Swisher was the offensive star for the Bombers’ Monday night series opener in Baltimore. Swisher clubbed a 2-2 Jeremy Guthrie offering into centerfield in the third inning to give the Yankees an early lead. The outfielder got the better of Guthrie again in the fifth frame, knocking out an RBI double. The Yankees tacked on three more runs off Mark Hendrickson later in the game. A Johnny Damon single to right scored Derek Jeter in the eighth, and Robinson Cano plated a double to drive Damon and Mark Teixeira home. That was all the scoring the Bombers needed with their ace pitching well on the mound and the bullpen firing away effectively again.
Pettitte’s missed baseball immortality just barely. The no-hitter would have stood even with Hairston’s lamentable error had that been the only runner allowed. But, such is the game of baseball. Andy was flawless and economical through the first three innings, and showed fans how they should still have faith in his ability. Only Whitey Ford and Red Ruffing have more wins in a Yankee uniform than Pettitte. The Yankees enter the final month of the season playing their best baseball of the year. They are beating the teams they are supposed to beat and performing at an unconscious level. At 83-48, New York has the American League’s best record. They don’t show any signs of slowing down or stopping until November.

Parting points: Dinara Safina escaped a close match at the U.S. Open. I am continually amazed at how she remains in contention considering how poorly she serves. Eleven double faults!?