Pettitte’s Pinstriped Precision

Bobby Abreau was grand but his former team was more striking in season opener at Yankee Stadium Tuesday afternoon. Abreau launched a Dave Robertson offering into the stands for a ninth inning grand slam but New York held on to beat the Angels 7-5 for their third consecutive win and fifth overall. The Yankees were given their 2009 World Series rings during a pregame ceremony and went on to take the first of a three game set with Anaheim.
Andy Pettitte tossed six scoreless innings in a vintage performance by the southpaw. Pettitte allowed five hits and struck out six Angels for his 230th career win. Mariano Rivera earned his third save of the season by getting last year’s World Series MVP, Hideki Matsui, to popup for the final out of the game. The game was all-New York through the through the first seven innings. Anaheim finally recorded a tally in the eighth inning off Yankee reliever, Chan Ho Park. Park served up a solo shot to Kendry Morales, who went 3-for-4 for the visiting California club. Morales and the Angels appeared rusty and lackadaisical. Morales lost track of the outs in the second inning and had to scramble back to second base on a routine fly ball to right field with one out. Manager Mike Scoscia’s team has dropped six games so far this season and has been outscored 48-23. They certainly do not look like your typical consistent, fundamental Angels. The blueprint of the modern day Angels has involved standout starting pitching and masterful run-manufacturing. The atrocious Anaheim arms are not accurate and the offense is not generating runs so far this season. Alternatively, the Yankees are formulating runs and backing it up with pitching and early leads. New York’s quest for a 28th championship is promising, although it’s too soon to declare them winners of anything yet.
The Yankees began their World Series title defense on the right foot. Yankee Stadium’s first long ball of the year came off the bat of Nick Johnson. The Bombers’ DH stroked two hits Tuesday and scored three of the team’s seven runs. Johnson’s first inning solo shot to right was one of the eight hits allowed by Angels’ hurler, Ervin Santana. Santana is off to a dismal 0-2 start. Shortstop, Derek Jeter, deposited a homerun beyond the right-center field wall in the third frame for a 2-0 Yankees lead. Jeter knocked home another run in the fourth to score Curtis Granderson. Alex Rodriguez’s infield single in the bottom of the sixth tacked on two more New York runs. New York pounded out 13 hits, propelled by catcher Jorge Posada’s three. Posada drove Johnson home with a double in the two-run eighth inning. His double moved the backstop past Mickey Mantle into seventh place on the Yanks’ all-time list. The patient Yankees drew nine walks, including three passes to Nick Swisher. Granderson stole his fourth base of the season and provided the run-scoring single in the eighth that padded the Yankee lead to 7-1.
Pettitte was precise in his 2010 home debut. The 37 year old set the Halos down in the sixth, despite allowing a pair of one-out singles. He induced an inning-ending double play to preserve the 3-0 Bomber advantage. The Angels were 2-of-9 with runners in scoring position, a staggering statistic for the efficient AL West players. Park relieved Pettite in the seventh and was an out away from a scoreless two-inning stint out of the pen. Morales clocked a 1-1 pitch to the second deck for the first Anaheim tally. Robertson loaded the bases in the ninth on single from Howie Kendrick, Brandon Wood and Jeff Mathis. Abreau’s rocket shot was the first Angels’ grand slam since Mark Teixeira went four-deep against the Yankees in August 2008. Joe Girardi found solace in summoning his future Hall-of-Fame closer from the bullpen to salvage the game. Rivera struck out Torii Hunter and set down Matsui to seal the deal. Robertson faced five batters and surrendered four runs. Rivera made it look easy, as Mo typically does, by stamping out the final two batters.

Parting Points: It’s always nice to see Bernie Williams back in the Bronx.

Song of the day- “Pretty Fly (for a white guy)” by the Offspring