Angels 9 Yankees 7 Add Andy Pettitte to the lengthening list of question marks surrounding the suddenly suspect Yankee rotation.
Coming off a solid outing against the Twins last week, Pettitte was looking to build on it last night against the Angels at Yankee Stadium. Instead, he struggled from the first pitch, put the Yankees in athree-run hole and failed to protect a two-run lead in an unsightly game the Yankees dropped, 9-7, in front of 25,313.
In five innings, Pettitte allowed six runs and nine hits but received a no-decision since he left with the score tied 6-6.
Pettitte joins the list of questions that already includes Roger Clemens’ hamstring, Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez’ ability to adjust and Hideki Irabu’s fragile psyche.
The Yankees made it interesting in the ninth when Derek Jeter was hit by Troy Percival and reached third with one out. However, Paul O’Neill was called out on a questionable 2-2 pitch – and then ejected by plate umpire Greg Kosc after O’Neill tossed a water-cooler bottle onto the field. O’Neill came out of the dugout to continue his beef with Kosc but was intercepted by Bernie Williams, first-base coach Jose Cardenal and eventually interim manager Don Zimmer.
Percival closed it out by fanning Williams.
Errors have plagued the 20-11 Yankees all year, and they killed them again since they were charged with two more. In 31 games, they have made 29 errors. Last night, Ramiro Mendoza and Pettitte were charged with boots.
The loss went to Mendoza, who was pitching for the first time in a week due to a throat infection. Moved to the bullpen earlier in the day in order for Irabu to fit into the starting rotation, Mendoza allowed three runs (two earned) in three innings and is 3-3.
Mo Vaughn enjoyed his first game as an Angel at Yankee Stadium by going 3-for-5 and driving in four runs. Vaughn hit a three-run homer in the fourth, his fifth homer of the year. Garret Anderson also homered and went 4-for-5.
Mark Petkovsek was the winner and is 3-1. Percival worked the ninth for his sixth save.
Playing for the first time since suffering a badly bruised lower left leg last Thursday, Chuck Knoblauch went 0-for-4. Derek Jeter crushed his eighth homer, in the first. Jeter has reached base at least once in all 31 games.
In his first game back from Columbus (Triple-A), Shane Spencer went 2-for-3 and hit an eighth-inning solo homer.
The Angels tacked on a run in the eighth when Todd Greene scored Jeff Huson from third with a fly to center that resulted in Vaughn being doubled off first when he forgot how many outs there were.
Anderson’s eighth homer, a one-out, 398-foot drive into the right-field bleachers off Mendoza in the seventh, gave the Angels a 7-6 lead and the Angels padded that with an unearned run when Mendoza didn’t glove a routine flip from Tino Martinez.
Following Anderson’s homer, Troy Glaus hit a shot at third baseman Scott Brosius’ feet that glanced off his glove and went into left field. It was originally scored an error, but changed to a hit. Tim Unroe grounded out for the second out and moved Glaus to second. Mendoza thought he was out of the inning when he fed Orlando Palmeiro a grounder to Martinez. His flip to Mendoza at the bag was eye-level but Mendoza watched it collide with a closed glove as Glaus scored from second to give the Angels an 8-6 lead.
Pettitte, whose ERA swelled to 5.90, never looked comfortable in any of his five innings when he put the leadoff man on in each frame. Fortunately for him, that only hurt him in the first and fourth, when Darin Erstad and Palmeiro led off with a single and walk, respectively, and scored. The other three innings, Pettitte worked around a single by Andy Sheets, a walk to Greene and an Anderson single.
After firing 112 pitches, Pettitte left after five and was replaced by Mendoza to start the sixth.