JetNation Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 Andy Pettitte outpitched Johan Santana for his sixth straight win, leading the New York Yankees past the New York Mets 3-2 on Saturday at rainy Shea Stadium. More... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil Bit Special Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 mets suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackout Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 caught the end of the game after work mariano is the mannn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetkid94 Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 great win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidhuman Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 Great pitchers duel. Pettitte was on point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaborJet Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 Here is a nice article... In a big spot, Andy Pettitte gets the nod over Johan Santana Sunday, June 29th 2008, 12:07 AM Sipkin/News Andy Pettitte continues to show he is a big-game pitcher by beating the Mets and Johan Santana (below) on Saturday. Santana falls to 7-7. Asking the question would have been laughable back in February, when Johan Santana was hailed as the Mets' savior and Andy Pettitte was being showered with questions about human growth hormone. Now it practically demands to be asked: If you needed to win one high-stakes game, whom would you rather have pitching, Pettitte or Santana? Maybe I'm influenced by what I've seen lately, and maybe I'll feel differently if these teams are in a pennant race in a couple of months. But right now I'll take Pettitte, and not just because he got the better of Santana Saturday, earning the victory as the Yankees defeated the Mets, 3-2. He might be a little past his prime, but Pettitte looks as reliable as ever. In fact, he's hot right now, winning his last four decisions to raise his record to 9-5 and lower his ERA to 3.98, and if you needed a reminder about how ultra-competitive he is, all you needed to see was him coming out to pitch the sixth inning after a 53-minute rain delay. Though he gave up a home run to David Wright, Pettitte's return to the mound was a statement in itself. With Chien-Ming Wang out, he recognizes that he needs to lead this Yankee pitching staff, and in that regard a little show of toughness can go a long way. "I feel like the guys enjoy it when I take the mound," was the way Pettitte put it after the game. "They know I'm going to give it everything I've got. I take that very seriously." Returning after the rain delay went above and beyond. Suffice to say there aren't many 36-year-olds with a history of elbow problems who would have come back out after such a long delay. Don't think his teammates didn't appreciate it. "That was awesome," Alex Rodriguez said. "I can't really think of enough words to describe how big Andy's heart is." Pettitte felt his body tightening up during the delay, so he threw in the bullpen to stay loose, but he shrugged off concerns about putting his arm at risk. "If my arm goes out again, I'll just take it to the house," he said with a laugh. "I'm not concerned about that. I mean, I'd only thrown five innings. I needed to go a couple of more." It only turned out to be one more inning, because Joe Girardi was worried the extra throwing in the bullpen during the delay had drained Pettitte. But after the way the Yankees' middle relief was bombed on Friday, even one inning was significant, allowing Girardi to use Jose Veras, Kyle Farnsworth and Mariano Rivera for one inning each to close out the victory. Perhaps most significantly, Pettitte seemingly has raised his game since Wang went down with his foot injury, going 3-0 while allowing only two runs. And his history of being a strong second-half pitcher suggests that after fighting some inconsistency during the first two months, this should be a typical Pettitte season, with him earning 16-18 wins. It doesn't mean he was justified for using human growth hormone. But whatever you think of him admitting to it, and not fully at first, it obviously hasn't been a precursor to disaster this season that many predicted. Perhaps because of Pettitte's likeable nature and popularity, he has shown no signs of being affected by the fallout since answering all the questions back in February. Still, let's be honest, this question of choosing has as much to do with Santana as Pettitte at the moment. Like a lot of people, I thought Santana would dominate the less imposing lineups in the National League, and be practically a lock to win 20 games this season. Instead he has been good but far from great. Santana is 7-7 with a 3.01 ERA after taking a tough loss Saturday, and he has had his share of those. But he just hasn't pitched like one of the best pitchers in baseball. And he didn't exactly stand tall last week after giving up that grand slam to Felix Hernandez, first implying that David Wright's two-out error had cost the Mets dearly, and then dismissing the slam as practically out of his control, saying Hernandez might as well have closed his eyes and swung. Maybe he was frustrated, but it was hardly a stand-up moment during tough times for his ballclub. Saturday Santana cost himself with a strange lapse, walking the first two batters in the fourth inning, and another in the sixth. All of those runners scored, with the help of a balk from Santana. Yes, the Mets could have scored more runs for him, but these are the types of games the No.1 starter is supposed to win. For the moment, Pettitte still seems to know how to do that a little better than Santana. Imagine that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackout Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 go yankees Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.