Seattle spoils Pettitte’s return
Ace back from retirement yields pair of two-run homers among seven hits
NEW YORK — It seemed a stretch that the gaudy expectations for Andy Pettitte would be met.
“I expect Andy to be Andy,” Joe Girardi said this week in advance of the lefty’s return. Meaning Pettitte would pick up where he left off in 2010 when he was among the American League’s best pitchers.
The 39-year-old showed glimpses of it Sunday at Yankee Stadium, but there were also reminders in the 6-2 loss to the Mariners that this comeback won’t be easy.
Pettitte, given raucous standing ovations when he took the mound before the first and when he left it with one out in the seventh, allowed four runs and seven hits, including a pair of two-run homers.
“It felt great, it felt like I never left,” Pettitte said. “I got a little careless with a few pitches and it cost me.”
Making his first start since Game 3 of the 2010 ALCS, Pettitte walked three and struck out two.
“It was awesome to watch him compete after admiring and respecting him from the other side for so long,” said Raul Ibanez, also 39, a Philadelphia Phillie when the Yankees and Pettitte vanquished his team in the 2009 World Series.
While his command was erratic, Pettitte’s arm strength held steady as his fastball hit 90 m.p.h. in the first inning and in the seventh.
“He wasn’t locating as well as he wanted to,” said Russell Martin, who previously had caught Pettitte for just one spring inning and a few bullpen sessions. He added: “I liked what I saw,” and “you couldn’t really tell” Pettitte hadn’t pitched since October, 2010.
Pettitte looked like the Pettitte of 2010 over much of the first five innings, with only Justin Smoak’s two-run homer the major mistake.
“I got a little tired there going out there for the seventh,” Pettitte said. “I had to work hard in the sixth to get out of that. But everything’s feeling good. Just hoping I’ll continue to stay healthy and be able to progress like I want to to get where I want to be.
“There is not a question in my mind about how this is all going to play out for me, and it’s not about this one start. I’ll measure if this was a successful return or not at the end of October when I’m hoping we’re where we want to be.”