Yankees get an Andy performance

Andy Pettitte may no longer be a front of the rotation guy, but he still knows how to pitch. Pettitte was dominant this afternoon in the Yankees 3-1 win over the Blue Jays in Dunedin.

The left-hander allowed one run on five hits in 6.2 innings, didn't walk a batter and struck out seven. Pettitte put away Lyle Overbay three times on strikes.

Mark Teixeira was the big hitting hero. He followed a first inning single by Derek Jeter and a walk by Johnny Damon with an RBI single for a 1-0 lead. After the Jays tied in the 6th, Teixeira came through again in the seventh.

Jose Molina led off the inning with a single before being forced out at second base on a ground out by Brett Gardner. Melky Cabrera, batting for the first time in the game, singled to right, and Teixeira following with a rip off of Overbay's glove at first that went down the right field line for an RBI double.

The Yankees added an insurance run in the eighth when second baseman Justin Snyder, in his frist AB of the day, tripled with one out. Angel Berroa, you guessed it..in his first AB of the day...doubled home Snyder before being thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a triple.

But the story of the day was Pettitte, who was as solid as he's been this spring. He ran into trouble only in the bottom of the sixth when a wild pitch helped contribute to the Blue Jays' run. He came back out to start the seventh and retired both batters he faced before leaving in favor of Damaso Marte. Jose Veras and Edwar Ramirez (save) worked the final two innings to seal the victory.

Containing his move up one slot to lead off, Jeter was 1-2 with a walk, run scored, and a stolen base. Damon was 0-1, but walked twice.


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