New York Yankees 2 — Houston Astros 1
Andy Pettitte finished off his career in storybook fashion in tonight’s 2-1 win over the Houston Astros.
In the first three innings, it was vintage Andy Pettitte. He would allow a runner on and induce a double play. He would be a part of one double play in the third inning and kept the Astros off the scoreboard. In the fourth inning, second baseman Jose Altuve would begin with a single that dropped in front of Alfonso Soriano. A soft ground out advanced him to second base and then a lapse in mental judgment by Brendan Ryan would allow Altuve to score. On Chris Carter‘s ground ball to Ryan, Altuve ran on the play and briefly stopped at third before making a dash home. Carter would be out at first but Altuve scored on the out to give the Astros a lead.
Chris Stewart would open the sixth inning with a single into center field. Curtis Granderson would strikeout but Eduardo Nunez would come through with a hit-and-run single to put runners on the corners for Robinson Cano. The Yankees second baseman would jump on the first pitch from Paul Clemens and hit a line drive to right field to bring in the game-tying run. Reliever Chia-Jen Lo would come in for Clemens and would walk Soriano on four pitches. Lyle Overbay would hit a sharp line drive to Altuve for the second out and just when it seemed like the Yankees would not come through with runners in scoring position, the unpredictability of baseball took place.
With Zoilo Almonte batting, Chia-Jen Lo would throw a pitch that would be way outside for a ball. Catcher Matt Pagnozzi would attempt to get Robinson Cano retreating to second base but seemed to hold onto the baseball too long. Pagnozzi would spike the ball by home plate and the ball would get away from him. Nunez would make a dash for home plate and got in just under the tag by Lo and the Yankees would get the lead for their veteran lefty.
After a leadoff walk in the sixth inning, Andy would go on a string of seven consecutive outs, including two strikeouts in the eighth inning. He would return for the ninth inning, aiming for the complete game to finish off his great career.
Pettitte would get Jose Altuve and Matt Dominguez to fly out to right field before Chris Carter hit a single to left field. Facing the potential game-winning run, manager Joe Girardi came out to see if Andy Pettitte could finish it off and heard all he needed to hear as he left him in to face J.D. Martinez. The Astros left fielder would hit a ground ball to Eduardo Nunez who fielded the ball and threw to first to get the third out and to complete the win for Andy Pettitte.
In front of his friends and family, on the field of a team he played for three seasons, Andy Pettitte got to be the last player to leave the field. Astros fans or Yankees fans, they all came together as Andy Pettitte fans, to give him a standing ovation that he so rightly deserved.
With tonight’s win, Andy Pettitte is the only pitcher to finish .500 or better in all 18 seasons of his career. This was his first complete game since 2006 and his first as a member of the Yankees since 2002.
Storybook ending for Andrew Eugene Pettitte.
Win – Andy Pettitte (11-11)
Loss – Paul Clemens (4-7)
Notables
Yankees
**Andy Pettitte – Win, 9 innings, 5 hits, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K (116 pitches)
*Robinson Cano – 2 for 4, 2B, RBI (107)
Astros
*Chris Carter – 1 for 4, RBI (82)
*Jose Altuve – 2 for 4, R
Current Yankees Record: 84-77
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