When Andy Pettitte looked at the schedule and saw he’d be facing arch-rival Boston and David Cone last night, he knew that the former Yankee stalwart would be the headline story, win or lose. That was fine with Pettitte: Let Cone have the spotlight, he’d take the victory.
Pitching in frigid weather with swirling mists, on a sloppy mound with a slick ball, Pettitte called it the worst conditions he’d ever pitched in. But he still got the better of his friend, with a 7-3 win and a standing ovation from the 44,108 at the Stadium, doffing his cap as he jogged off the field with one out in the ninth.
Pettitte (5-3) hadn’t pitched in a full week, and the Yanks hadn’t played since losing in Seattle Sunday. But the lefty was brilliant, pitching 8 1/3 innings, giving up six hits and fanning five.
“I just had to try to block (Cone’s return) out. My main concern was Boston, and it’s nice to be able to get that first win against them,” Pettitte said. “The guys in the bullpen should’ve been relaxing, and I shoulda finished it off. But it’s good to get the W.
“It was as nasty as I’ve seen. The wind was blowing, the mound was wet, but you try to block all that out. With Boston, obviously everything’s intensified when you play Boston. At this stage, we just want to start playing well as a team. We haven’t been playing well lately.”
But pitching like Pettitte gave them last night makes the Yankees look good. They came in trailing Boston by 1 ½ games in the AL East, and Pettitte smothered the Red Sox until tiring.
After Boston manufactured a run in the second inning Pettitte slammed the door shut.
“Andy Pettitte pitched great. Once they got that one run, he shut them down,” said manager Joe Torre. “He’s got extra weapons he didn’t have (before).”
Like a blistering four-seam fastball. He says his fastball is up to 94-95 mph, making him less reliant on his cutter. And last night, his heat was plenty good enough, even on a night with 51-degree weather.
He gave up just two hits through the first six innings before he started to tire. He allowed leadoff singles in the seventh and eighth innings, getting 4-6-3 double-plays to get out of trouble. Then came the ninth, when a Jose Offerman walk, Carl Everett single and Ramirez two-run double chased him.
Even so, it hardly mattered. By the time Torre pulled him, the Yanks led 7-3, and Cone was long gone, able only to watch his former protege beat his new club.
Pettitte had come up as a rookie in 1995, and Cone came in from Toronto that July, giving Pettitte – 10 years his junior – the model of what a professional workhorse should be. But Pettitte didn’t mind Cone stealing his thunder last night.
“That’s fine,” he said. “The less that’s said about me the better.”
As long as he gets the win.
