Back on Track

The Yankees got back on track last night, momentarily at least. When you get RBI doubles from Angel Berroa and Andy Pettitte it's hard not to win.

More encouraging than his batting though was Pettitte's pitching. Since his back locked up on him in Cleveland on May 29th, Pettitte had turned in three consecutive lackluster starts in which he seemed to battle himself constantly. Last night, Pettitte pitched smooth and easy. While Joe Girardi and trainer Steve Donahue did visit the mound early on, Pettitte showed no ill effects: 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER ,0 BB, 7K and throwing 66 of his 108 pitches for strikes. Pettitte was followed by perfect innings from both Brian Bruney and Brett Tomko.

The offense also got it going after several listless performances. Every starter registered at least one hit, with the top four hitters in the order. Derek Jeter, Johnny Damon, Mark Teixeira, and Jorge Posada, all collecting two each. Melky Cabrera hit a rare righthanded home run, just the seventh of his career.

Starter Sean West lasted only 4 innings, giving up 5 ER on 10 H. He entered the game with too few K/9, too many BB/9 and unsustainably low BABIP against. The correction for which I thought he was due came to pass, and for once at least, the Yankees were able to touch up a previously unseen rookie starter. For one night everything seemed back the way it should be for the Yanks. They'll look to build on it tonight.