Andy Pettitte did what he does; he keeps you close. He never, even in his prime, had the lights out stuff of a Josh Beckett or Cliff Lee. He always gave up runs, but his mates were able to back him up. In Game six of the 2003 World Series Pettitte pitched good enough to win, but Beckett was simply unhittable that night. Even though the final was 2-0, the Yankees never mounted any real threat. That game might as well have been 10-0. Tonight Lee wasn't nearly as good as Beckett that night (though the stat sheet says differently), but good enough to keep the Yankees shaking their heads as they walked back to the dugout one after another following a striking out (I'm not trying to down play Lee's performance; he was incredible. But Lee was doing it with a lot of slight of hand and guile. Beckett that night long ago was throwing BB's from the first pitch to the last). They had their chance in the 6th but didn't capitalize. In the big picture they did what they had to do going into the middle innings; they made Clifton throw pitches, go deep into counts. They got his pitch count up, but they couldn't break through and get into the Texas bullpen, which was their only hope of winning.
And our own bullpen was pitiful, not doing what Pettitte was able to do; that is keeping it close. It's a shame that a 2-0 nail biter goes into the books as an 8-0 romp.
So tomorrow night we need Burnett to pitch to his potential against an opponent who doesn't have the tenth of the "stuff" he does. The next game will come down to what Vince Lombardi called mental toughness on the part of the Yankee starter. If he has it I'm convinced the Yankees win this thing in Texas over the weekend. If he pitches like he did in the regular season then I wish the Rangers luck against Philadelphia.
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