Almost Perfect: Andy Pettitte’s Brush with History Leads Yankees Over Orioles
September 1, 2009 · Doug Rush · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
Going into Monday night’s game, Andy Pettitte had a career 26-5 record against the Baltimore Orioles.
With the Yankees playing so well and the Orioles playing so poorly, most fans thought it would just be another Yankees win on their way into the final month of the season.
Little did fans know they would almost witness baseball history in Baltimore.
Nick Swisher gave the Yankees an early 1-0 lead with a solo home run and then hit an RBI double to make the score 2-0 against Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie.
While the offense was taken care of, Pettitte was taking care of the Orioles hitters.
He breezed through the Baltimore order in the first three innings. Then he got Brian Roberts, Cesar Izturis, and Adam Jones out again for the second time to get through four.
Pettitte then got Nick Markakis, Nolan Reimold, and Melvin Mora out for their second time in the fifth inning. Pettitte was perfect through 15 outs.
He then got the bottom of the order out with no hassle as Luke Scott, Matt Wieters, and Ty Wigginton all went down a second time—18 outs and nine to go for Pettitte.
Pettitte got Roberts and Izturis to fly out to Swisher in the bottom of the seventh—20 outs and seven to go.
Up came Jones, slapping the ball to Jerry Hairston, Jr.—filling in for Alex Rodriguez, who had the night off. Hairston bobbled the ball to end the bid for the perfect game. As Hairston wore a face of dejection, Pettitte still had a no-hitter because of the charged error, but that bid was broken up by Markakis on the next at-bat.
With both chances at history ended, Pettitte just needed to preserve the 2-0 lead, which he did when he got Reimold out to end the seventh.
The Yankees tacked on three more runs with an RBI single by Johnny Damon and a two-run double by Robinson Cano to make the score 5-0.
Pettitte came back out for the eighth inning to try to keep the shutout going, but Mora got a hold of a pitch and drove it over the wall for a solo home run, which ended the bid for a shutout. With the score 5-1, Pettitte breezed through Scott, Wieters, and Wigginton one last time to end the eighth inning and left the game on a very strong note.
Brian Bruney came in for the ninth, allowing a hit and a walk, before Mariano Rivera came in to get the final two outs for his 37th save. The Yankees easily defeated the Orioles, 5-1.
Pettitte was nearly perfect tonight and virtually untouchable, going eight strong innings while allowing two hits and one run, walking none and striking out eight in the victory.
With the win, Pettitte improves to 12-6 on the season with a 4.03 ERA. Pettitte finishes the month of August with a 4-0 record in six starts, pitching 39.2 innings and striking out 38 batters, which are great numbers.
Pettitte has been tremendous for the Yankees in the rotation in 2009, and because of the injury to Chien-Ming Wang, Pettitte’s re-signing in January for $5.5 million became even more important to the Yankees’ success.
During the game, Pettitte inspired flashbacks of former Yankees David Wells and David Cone’s perfect games.
Wells threw his on May 17, 1998, against the Minnesota Twins. Cone threw his on July 18, 1999, against the Montreal Expos. Pettitte was in the dugout during both of those games, current manager Joe Girardi caught Cone’s game, and Jeter was in the field for both games, so Monday night’s game probably brought back old feelings from 10 and 11 years ago for all those guys.
Most Yankee fans were rooting for Pettitte because he’s so likeable. Nobody works harder to win than Pettitte. Even at age 37, the desire to compete and win has never faded, which is why the fans appreciate what he does.
If tonight would have been the night for Pettitte to throw a perfect game, it truly would have been a historic night in baseball. It also would have been the fourth such player for the Yankees to toss a perfect game, joining Wells, Cone, and Don Larson in the 1956 World Series.
Aug. 31, 2009 will still be a night to remember for Pettitte. He came so close to history, yet because he battled all game and pitched a great game, the Yankees Universe still appreciates the amazing job Pettitte did in Baltimore.
Perfect game or not, Pettitte has shown all of us he can pitch with the best in baseball and is still a big-game pitcher when called upon.
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