He's second in command
Pettitte once again a take-charge guy
NEW YORK -- As good as he is, as hard as he throws, not even Andy Pettitte can survive on power pitching.
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"Hitters up here," mused Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre, "they love for you just to try to throw it by 'em. But that's not going to work, not here; you've got to be able to put the ball to a location."
Pettitte may not have had his best control, and a week's rest left the Yankee lefthander on emotional overload, but he skipped out of a mess of early trouble last night and ultimately paced the Yankees to a 6-2 win over the Red Sox in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.
"I had a hard time locating my fastball and it's my fastball that sets up everything for me," said Pettitte, his Yankees now in a 1-1 tie in the best-of-seven series. "I attribute my problems to overthrowing."
Had it not been for some messy, overly aggressive work on the bases in the first inning, and then a gift-wrapped double-play ball in the second, Pettitte might not have been around to hand his victory over to the bullpen for safekeeping in the seventh.
Pettitte's problems began immediately, with the first hitter, Gabe Kapler, reaching on a single. Any momentum appeared to be cut short in a hurry when Bill Mueller was caught looking at a third strike with Kapler breaking for second. Catcher Jorge Posada's throw to second was not only on the money, but it was so early that the headfirst-sliding Kapler initially might have considered turning around and heading back to first. But there was no putting on the brakes. Two outs. A botched hit-and-run.
"When you've got a hitter like Billy Mueller up there, the guy that led the American League in hitting, chances are he's going to hit," explained Sox skipper Grady Little.
Nonetheless, Pettitte wasn't totally out of trouble, yet. Nomar Garciaparra followed Mueller to the plate and singled up the middle, and cleanup hitter Manny Ramirez did the same. David Ortiz then drew a walk, loading the bases. Perhaps one fat pitch away from a two- or three-run deficit, Pettitte then walked away unscathed when Kevin Millar popped to shortstop Derek Jeter.
"I was very fortunate in the first two innings," admitted Pettitte, referring to the failed hit-and-run in the first that turned into the strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out DP. "And in the second inning, I thought he'd be bunting . . ."
The potential bunter was, as fate would have it, Kapler. With a run already across for the 1-0 lead, Kapler came to the plate with runners at first and third with no one out. It was a prime opportunity to put some real heat on Pettitte. But again Kapler short-circuited Boston's momentum when he rapped into a double play. The inning ended on a Mueller roller. Two innings, six hits, and all the Sox could manage was the lone run in the second.
"I was expecting bunt, and I wanted to get the ball inside to jam him," explained Pettitte. "Getting the DP there . . . that was a big point in the game, as far as I was concerned. No doubt I was fortunate to come out of all that with only one run."
Pettitte settled down nicely from there, allowing only one hit over the next three innings and then yielding a Jason Varitek homer in the sixth. Listening to some soothing words of advice from Stottlemyre was part of settling down, and having the Yankee bats start to fire up also helped.
"He's a guy I didn't know anything about when I got here in '96," said Torre, a study in serenity himself. "But he did some things in '96, and that trust will never leave me -- especially after the way he pitched Game 5 [of the World Series] in Atlanta, 1-0. That was huge for us."
According to Stottlemyre, Pettitte came over to him before last night's start and asked for some advice.
"I know when that happens, he's nervous," noted the Pinstripes pitching coach. "That's kind of a ritual we have. I won't tell you what we talk about, because that's a secret -- not that it's anything other than baseball, but it's been the two of us. I'll just say we're serious when we talk, and it's all about baseball."
Now it's 1-1, and the Sox face the prospects of seeing Pettitte back here again next week, unless they sweep in Boston.
"I thought after the first inning that I'd relax, be comfortable, and not overthrow," said Pettitte, content with the win, but not satisfied with his performance. "These guys have a great lineup, and they're very tough on me."
The Sox were tough, to a point, and then Pettitte got tougher and tougher.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
