BALTIMORE — Andy Pettitte’s bid for perfection vanished when Adam Jones’ ground ball spilled out of third baseman Jerry Hairston Jr.’s glove with two out in the seventh.
His no-hitter disappeared into the comfortable Inner Harbor evening when Nick Markakis, the next batter, went the other way for a ground single to left.
Now, Pettitte was like any other pitcher locked in a close game, attempting to work out of a jam with a skinny two-run lead. His hat remained tucked close to his eyes, the focus the same knowing one mistake to Nolan Reimold could transport him from perfect to loser.
“A home run and we lose,” Pettitte said of the crucial seventh-inning at-bat that resulted in Reimold hitting a full-count pitch for an inning-ending grounder to Derek Jeter.
While Pettitte didn’t add his name to the nine Yankees who have thrown regular-season no-hitters, he did pitch the Yankees to a 5-1 victory, witnessed by a Camden Yards crowd of 25,063 which gave Pettitte a standing ovation when the no-hit bid died.
The Yankees’ fourth straight win increased their AL East lead over the idle Red Sox to 6½ games.
Pettitte (12-6), who went eight innings, allowed a run, two hits and struck out eight for his fourth straight win. He hasn’t lost since July 25.
The victory was his 190th as a Yankee and moved him into third place on the all-time club list. Red Ruffing (231) is second to Whitey Ford (236).
Pettitte’s shutout bid was lost in the eighth when Melvin Mora led off with a homer to left that reduced the Yankees’ lead to 5-1.
Mariano Rivera recorded the final two outs for the save. It was the 62nd time Rivera saved a win for Pettitte and Rivera’s 37th save and 33rd in a row.
Nick Swisher went 3-for-4 with a homer and drove in two runs. In the eighth inning, Johnny Damon’s ground single to right scored Derek Jeter from second for a 3-0 lead. Robinson Cano, who is 6-for-his-last-14 (.429) with runners in scoring position, doubled home two more for a 5-0 bulge.
Pettitte’s record against the Orioles is 26-6 in 39 games (37 starts). Only Ford (30) and Catfish Hunter (26) have as many wins against the Orioles as Pettitte since the start of the 1954 season, Baltimore’s first in the majors. Pettitte is 16-4 in Baltimore — and still without a no-hitter.
“No one feels worse than me,” said Hairston, who started at third for a resting Alex Rodriguez, of his error. “I wish I had that one back. Pettitte was going great and I didn’t make the play. Everyone came over to me, that’s the kind of group we have here. It’s tough to swallow but I have played long enough to know things happen. It’s just a shame.”
Pettitte said the ball took a tough hop, but Hairston wasn’t making excuses.
“It hit the heel [of the glove],” said Hairston, who had kept the perfect-game bid alive by making a slick bare-handed grab of a Matt Wieters roller in the sixth.
Later in the clubhouse, Pettitte noticed Hairston with his head down.
“He told me, ‘If I haven’t thrown a no-hitter by now, I am probably not going to do it,’ ” Hairston said.
Three pitches after Hairston’s error, Markakis singled between the bag and Hairston.
“I had him 0-2 and I was trying to throw the ball up and out of the zone,” Pettitte said. “I wanted to come back with a cutter down and in. It was up too much.”
Jorge Posada has caught Pettitte for a long time, but said last night might have been the best he has seen the veteran lefty.
“I can’t remember having that good of a game,” Posada said. “He was that good.”
