Pettitte's Gem puts Yankees on the right streak

Here's my recap of yesterday's game for Baseball Digest.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	2	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0		4	7	0
Kansas City	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		1	4	0

WP - Pettitte (1-0) SV - Rivera (1) LP - Ponson (0-1)

Andy Pettitte doesn't make the money that the top of the Yankees rotation earns on a yearly basis and he isn't hyped like the #5 starter is, but more than any of them Andy Pettitte knows how to pitch. Pettitte was at his very best yesterday, limiting the Kansas City Royals to three hits over seven innings in the Yankees 4-1 win over Kansas City.

In spoiling the Royals home opener, and the first game in the newly renovated Ewing Kauffman Stadium ("The Big K"), Pettitte threw 99 pitches, 64 of them for strikes. He might have escaped with no runs allowed had right fielder Nick Swisher not had trouble with Mike Jacobs' run producing fly ball in the second inning. Pettitte threw a steady array of off speed pitches to the Royals' heavily left-handed laden lineup and uncharacteristically retired only six batters via the ground ball.

As for the Yankees offense, they gave Pettitte a quick lead to work with, jumping on former teammate Sidney Ponson in the first inning. Johnny Damon laced a one-out single to left and Mark Teixeira drew a four pitch walk. Ponson got in the way of a possible RBI single by Hideki Matsui when the ball ricocheted off of him and turned in an out at first. But with two runners in scoring position, Jorge Posada ripped a hard shot through Jacobs at first and into right field for a 2-run single.

Robinson Cano led off the fourth inning with a single, giving him four straight multi-hit games to open the season. Ponson then left a fastball up in the zone to Swisher, who lined it up the alley in left-center to score Cano from first base. After Cody Ransom reached on a fielder's choice, Brett Gardner advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt. With the infield playing back, Derek Jeter grounded out to drive in Swisher with the Yankees fourth run.

Pettitte meanwhile was cruising. He retired 16 of the last 18 batters he faced, stranding Billy Butler after a double to start the fifth inning. The Yankees bullpen, which was horrendous in the season opening loss to Baltimore, continued its hot streak since, getting a scoreless inning from both Brian Bruney and Mariano Rivera, who picked up his first save of the season.

Game Notes

It was the 56th time that Rivera has saved one of Pettitte's victories. Only Dennis Eckersley and Bob Welch have combined for more victories (57). It was also Pettitte's eighth straight win against the Royals. Only the Mets' Johan Santana has a longer streak with nine straight wins versus KC.

Cano is now 8-14 (.571) and has walked four times in four games. His OPS is a gaudy 1.524 and he has a 15-game hitting streak dating back to last season.

A wide strike zone and harsh lighting helped lead to a combined 21 strikeouts between the two teams. Former Yankee Kyle Farnsworth struck out Damon, Teixeira, and Matsui in the seventh inning.

The series resumes tonight at 7 pm EDT with CC Sabathia (0-1, 12.46) looking to bounce back from his awful start in Baltimore. Horacio Ramirez makes his season debut for the Royals.