Game 49 Wrap-Up: LAA 5 NYY 1

(Shucks.  Courtesy of The AP)

Andy Pettitte has already exceeded my expectations and the expectations of many others with what he's done in his first 3 starts back after over a year way from the game.  But if there was anything left that was needed to legitimize his comeback, it would be a good performance on the road against a hot team.  That's exactly what he was facing last night in Anaheim, both at the plate and on the mound, and the outcome wasn't what he was looking for.

Game Notes:

- Pettitte started off solid, working quickly and cleanly through the first 2 frames, but he got into trouble in the 3rd when he started missing with his offspeed stuff.   Mike Trout hit an RBI triple to left on a slider that was up just enough with 1 out, and Albert Pujols hit a hanging cutter out for a 2-run HR with 2 outs to make it 3-0 Anaheim.

- Angels' starter Dan Haren looked just as good as he did against Seattle early, and he really had his splitter working down in the zone.  But the Yanks still managed to load the bases against him in the 3rd before he struck out Robinson Cano, so there was reason for optimism.

- That optimism turned into confidence in the 4th, when Raul Ibanez hit a 1-out double to right and came around to score on Nick Swisher's RBI single.  For once, the Yankee hitters didn't seem overmatched by a pitcher who was on his game.

- Pettitte seemed to find his game after the 3rd, retiring the next 8 batters he faced in order, 6 via groundout.  He was locating his cutter much better and the Angels' hitters couldn't do much with it.

- Only problem was that Haren and his splitter were even better, and he kept the Yankee lineup at bay after the run in the 4th.  He was constantly ahead in the count, pounding the strike zone with splitters and 4-seamers, and worked quickly out of any trouble he got into through 7.

- Pettitte left a cutter up to Pujols in the 3rd, and he left one even higher up in the zone to Mark Trumbo in the 7th and Trumbo took it out for a solo HR and a 4-1 Anaheim lead.  Andy left after giving up a leadoff hit in the bottom of the 8th, which eventually came around to score off of Cody Eppley.

- It wasn't a horrible outing for Andy.  He threw a lot of strikes, got a lot of groundballs, and didn't walk a batter.  3 bad pitches were what did him in, and the offense couldn't generate enough to pick him up.

The Yankees threatened in the 8th, putting runners on the corners with 1 out, but Peter Bourjos made a great catch on a deep drive to right center to rob Nick Swisher and kill the potential comeback.  It was the third time that Swish was robbed of at least a double in the gap.  Talk about bad BABIP luck.

F*ck Yeahs:

- Alex Rodriguez: 3-4, 1 K.  Swung the bat well, wasn't fooled by Haren, just didn't drive in any runs.

- Derek Jeter: 2-4, 1 BB.  Dude keeps hitting, and getting on base 3 times from the leadoff spot is never a bad thing, although his power production has dropped big time of late.

Oh Nos:

- Cano: 0-5, 2 K, 8 LOB.  Yeesh.  Haven't seen a line that ugly from Robbie in a while.  Both the strikeouts came with the bases loaded.

- Curtis Granderson: 0-5, 2 K, 6 LOB.  When your 2 most dangerous hitters put up a combined 0-10, you're probably not going to score a lot of runs.  This explains why neither Jeter nor A-Rod scored a single run despite getting on base 6 times.

Next Up:

Series finale is tonight, and after that the Yankees will start playing games at a reasonable time again (seriously, even in the Central time zone, West Coast games fucking blow).  They've got Ivan Nova and his magical bag of free extra base hits on the hill against perennial Yankee whipping boy Ervin Santana, so it could be another "all hands on deck" nights for the bullpens.  Yanks need a W to salvage this series.