Here’s some quotes from Andy Pettitte’s press conference after he allowed two runs in five innings in Double-A Trenton’s 3-2 win in 10 innings over Altoona in the first game of the Eastern League Championship Series.
Q: How did you feel?
A: I felt good. I don’t feel like I was quite as sharp tonight as I was the other night. I felt like I was a little more amped up, trying to be a little more amped up, trying to get going a little bit. But the last couple innings I felt I was a little bit better, as far as mechanics … I just threw a lot of balls that were cutting. I was trying to sink them, and they were cutting tonight … had a couple of wild pitches, stuff like that.
I’ve got work to do, but, all in all, it felt good. I still felt pretty strong there in the fifth inning, and that was really the only inning that I had to get my pitch count up a little bit, that taxed me a little bit, and I still felt fairly strong. It was good to get into some trouble that inning, and feel like you had to make some pitches to get out of a little bit of trouble. Whether it’s here or in the big leagues, that’s always a good thing to have to do.
All in all, again, just a good night, got my pitch count up a litle bit higher, went down to the bullpen and threw 10 more pitches. I believe, unless they tell me I’m not starting, I feel like it’s time I need to get in a big league game and get going up there.
Q: What pitch was that on the home run?
A: Yeah, it was a cutter. Just a flat cutter. I just didn’t tug down on it hard … I was ahead in the count and didn’t bury it, you know? If you don’t bury a cutter, and it stays flat on the inner-half, that’s what happens to it. That’s definitely not the way you want to start the night off, but, again, I was glad I was able to at least give us a decent start where our guys will hopefully have a chance to be able to close this game out.
Q: They did OK against you. Do you leave this game with some respect for their hitters?
A: Oh, man … I’ve been down to A-ball plenty of times and gotten knocked around. I give everybody respect. I’m not a strikeout pitcher, never have been … guys are gonna put the ball in play, and when you put the ball in play, you’ve got a chance to get a base hit. I don’t care who you are. They did a great job … they battled me tonight.
It was a strange night for me because their hitting coach, Ryan Long, I played high school baseball with him. He was over there in dugout saying hi and stuff like that, and I’m saying hi to him right before the first pitch of the game. Obviously I played against (Altoona manager Matt Welbeck) … it was neat to come full-circle, playing Matt in the big leagues and playing high school and summer baseball with Ryan Long. He went to Doby and I went to Deer Park.
Q: Have they given you any indication when you’re going to start?
A: I’m going to pitch Sunday. I’ll pitch Sunday in Baltimore, and that’ll give me three starts.
Q: You got tested a little bit on the bunt. Any discomfort in the groin?
A: No, I felt good. I felt good, and felt like I was fine to break over there, and that’s all good.
Q: Has it been tough to watch the guys struggling while you’ve been out?
A: Yeah, it has been. It’s been terrible. I’ve been out a lot longer than I expected to be, and I feel like I’m a big part of what we want to do up there, and feel like I’m part of the puzzle, you know, to put our staff together and stuff like that. For me not to be able to go out there and take my turn every fifth day … that’s what I pride myself on being able to do.
That’s been the toughest thing, to watch the guys battle through the aches and pains and the grind of a full season, and me not being able to do it with them the last month and a half or so has been very disappointing.
Q: Will three starts be enough to get ready for the postseason?
A: Yeah, it will be, no matter what, you know? (Laughter). It’s gonna be enough … that’s what I’ve got, so hopefully I can get back to where I was before I went down. I’m a long ways from there, but I’m working to get back there, and hopefully to get my strength back up.
Q: To reiterate, unless they tell you differently, you’re planning on pitching Sunday?
A: Yeah … As long as I made it through this start healthy, I’m pitching Sunday in Baltimore.
Q: Do you think you can go six innings Sunday in Baltimore?
A: I really don’t know. I don’t know what to expect. I feel like I can give us … I threw 75 tonight and still felt pretty strong, so I would imagine I would feel pretty good to go 80 pitches. Hopefully that gets me through five or six innings … if not, it’s probably going to be a struggle game for me.
Q: You signed some autographs, talked to the fans … there was a big crowd tonight. What did you think of the overall experience?
A: It was great … it was great. The crowd was into it, they were into their team, which you expect, and they were pulling for those guys. It was a great crowd. I love to try to sign autographs when I can for the fans, I started getting a little stiff down there, so I had to go get some ice on my body, but it was great to be here.
It’s always fun to come back down here … this is where it all started. We all had to go through this, you know? The grind, the desire, the want to be up in the big leagues … you can just see these kids and think back, so it’s always special to come back to a place you’ve come from.
Q: It’s been a rough stretch for the Yankees lately. Do you think you can give them a spark?
A: I’m not sure … I mean, I hope so. I hope I am. But I know our guys … our guys are grinding, man. It’s been a long year, we’ve been a little banged up in certain areas, and we had some players that we had to keep out there and run out there when we had some guys go down that we would have loved to give some days off.
We’ve been going hard, but you have to go hard. It’s a tough division, it’s a test of will … but I’ve said it before. The guys play great behind me. I feel like the team play hard behind me when I pitch, and I’m ready to go out there and start battling with them. I hope me coming back will be a little bit of a lift, but I think we have so many guys that are so professional, they come to play every day. It doesn’t matter who is out on the mound … they get after it.
