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.

Game 67: Better Than

Andy Pettitte looks to right his 2009 season and end an embarassing two game losing streak when he takes the mound against the Fish tonight. The last time Pettitte faced the Marlins as a Yankee, he was the winning pitcher in Game 2 losing pitcher in the sixth and final game of the 2003 World Series.

He'll be opposed by Marlins rookie Sean West. The 6'8" southpaw has all of 30 Big League innings to his credit. I've looked at his numbers. On the surface they're good. Digging deeper suggests that he's due for a beating. It didn't happen with John Lannan Wednesday, and I'm not counting on it tonight. We know how this story usually seems to go.

I'm really hoping the comforts of home will help A-Rod out of his slump this weekend. Meanwhile, as of this writing, there's no word as to the availability of Brett Gardner tonight. With interleague shifting to NL parks over the next nine games, the Yankees will need their full complement of bench players. Gardner may not be the best option off the bench, but he's more appealing than Francisco Cervelli, Ramiro Pena, and Angel Berroa.

The Yanks are in a bit of a funk right now. Since shipping up to Boston last Tuesday, they've gone 3-6. They're a Luis Castillo error away from being 2-7 in that span. They've often looked listless during this stretch and have made more than their share of mental errors. They've lost to two unheralded starters in a row, and this weekend they're scheduled to face three more youngsters that they've never seen before.

They have six in a row against the Marlins and the Braves, two sub-.500 teams with noticeable warts. This would be a great time to erase the memory of the problems of the last two weeks. They've played poorly during that stretch, but they're better than that. Now's the time to prove it.

Because you can be better than that,
Don't let it get the better of you,
What can be better than now?
Life's not about what's better than.