Pettitte misses out on perfection, still wins

Andy Pettitte carried a perfect game through 6-2/3 innings, but an error and a hit later everything was lost. He ended up escaping the jam, and the Yankees (83-48) went on to beat the Orioles (54-78) 5-1.

Quick ‘Cap:
The first two runs for the Yankees came from Nick Swisher. A long homer to center in the third and an RBI double in the fifth to drive home Robinson Cano was more than enough support for Pettitte. He went eight innings, and let up his lone run in the eighth on a leadoff homer to Melvin Mora.

Jerry Hairston Jr.’s error on a hard grounder in the seventh may have provided a “spark” to the offense. Johnny Damon had an RBI single, and a few batters later Cano delivered a two-run double. Brian Bruney attempted to finish the game, but couldn’t. Mariano Rivera came to the rescue for his 37th save. Full box score here.

Thoughts:
This was definitely one of the more exciting games I’ve watched this year. I was really into Andy’s perfecto starting in the fifth. When Hairston made the error, I immediately felt bad for the guy. He had just made an amazing barehanded play on a slow roller the inning before. Like Swisher said after the game, “it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Line of the Night:
Pettitte: 8 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K. Ok, who else would it be? Sorry Pettitte, maybe next time. Pettitte appreciation post coming tomorrow.

Up Next:
The Yankees could win this series and the season series with a win on Tuesday night. It will be A.J. Burnett (10-8, 4.10) against David Hernandez (4-6, 4.24).