Andy Pettitte wishes he had an answer, but right now he has no idea what’s affecting his pitching.
“To have back-to-back starts like this, I can’t remember the last time I’ve had that, so it’s extremely frustrating right now,” Pettitte said after the Yankees beat the Angels 14-9 last night.
Pettitte allowed eight runs for his second straight start, the first time that has occurred in his major-league career. The left-hander, who hasn’t won since June 14 against the Diamondbacks, is 0-2 with a 10.18 ERA over his last four starts.
“As long as he’s fine physically, I’m not concerned about that other stuff,” manager Joe Torre said.
Pettitte called it embarrassing that the Yankees provided him with an 8-3 cushion and he couldn’t maintain it.
“You feel you’re supposed to be one of the horses, with that [lead] and go seven or eight innings for the win,” Pettitte said.
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Johnny Damon made his first start in left field since June 22, 2001, when he was with Oakland. Hideki Matsui started at DH and Melky Cabrera played center field. Torre used Cabrera in left and Damon in center Thursday afternoon, but only because the manager didn’t want to subject Damon to battling the notorious left-field sun at Yankee Stadium.
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Miguel Cairo was a late addition to last night’s lineup at first base after Andy Phillips was scratched with a sore neck. Phillips said the injury occurred as he was fielding a grounder during pregame drills, but he expects to be available for today’s game. Cairo went 1-for-2 with two RBIs in Phillips’ place.
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After the game Torre announced his pitching alignment for after the All-Star break – the Yankees play four games at Tampa Bay beginning Thursday. Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina and Chien-Ming Wang will precede Kei Igawa, who would face the Blue Jays a week from Monday.
Igawa has struggled in his three starts since returning to the Yankees from the minor leagues, but Torre remains optimistic the Japanese lefty will get his act together.
“He just needs to get some work as far as throwing on the side and trying to find command,” Torre said. “His ability and the number of pitches he has are all big league, he just needs to locate them all on a regular basis.”
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Today’s Old-Timers’ Day ceremonies, honoring the 1977 World Series champion Yankees, will begin at 1:50 p.m., with first pitch between the Yankees and Angels slated for 3:55.
Thirteen members of the ’77 team are expected to attend, along with Diana Munson (Thurman Munson’s widow), Helen Hunter (Catfish Hunter‘s widow) and Billy Martin Jr..
In addition, Paul O’Neill will be making his first Old-Timers’ Day appearance. Later in the afternoon, 44-year-old Clemens will pitch for the Yankees.
“I think [Clemens] had a sense he was going to be asked to pitch that first game, too,” Torre said, referring to the Old-Timers’ game.
