Pettitte Can't Shoulder the Load

There were reports during the Summer that Andy Pettitte was pitching injured. He denied it at the time, but now admits he's been taking the mound with a sore shoulder. Clearly something is wrong. After last night's 6-2 loss to the White Sox, Pettitte had dropped 7 of his last 8 decisions and saw his record go from 12-7 to 13-14. He's never finished a season under .500.

Pettitte's start last night evolved the way many of his starts have this season, going from good to bad in the middle innings. Tied 1-1 in the fourth, Pettitte walked Brian Anderson to start the inning. Consecutive singles by Jermaine Dye and Ken Griffey Jr. produced the go ahead run, and Dye scored on a double by Paul Konerko to give the White Sox a 3-1 lead.

Pettitte finally retired A.J. Pierzynski for the first out of the inning and then intentionally walked Alexei Ramirez to set up a double play situation. But the move backfired when Pettitte walked Juan Uribe to force in a run.

As they have been all season, especially in the second half, the Yankees went lifeless after being behind. A Jason Giambi home run in the Yankees half of the fourth cut the deficit to 4-2, but they would get no closer. The White Sox tacked on runs against the worn out Jose Veras, and Dan Giese for a 6-2 final.

The only highlight of the night was Derek Jeter's passing of Lou Gehrig for hits at Yankee Stadium. Jeter's first at-bat took care of it, though the hit should have been ruled an error when the ball went right through Uribe at third base.

Gavin Floyd continued his break out season for the White Sox, improving to 16-7 with the win. The Yankees biggest threat against him was a bases loaded, two out jam in the fifth. A 10-pitch battle ensued with Jason Giambi, that Floyd won when Giambi swung and missed at a strike three breaking pitch. Bobby Jenks, in a non-save situation, easily retired the punchless Yankees in the ninth.


News and Notes

Hideki Matsui has decided to go in for knee surgery after Sunday's home finale.

Derek Jeter also passed Lou Gehrig for second place on the franchise career at-bats list.

Brett Gardner stole two bases and is 10-11 on the season.

Olympic medalist Dara Torres threw out the first pitch.

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The Pennant Race - 8/21

You just get the feeling that for the second straight year, the Mets and Phillies will come down to the final weekend to determine the NL East winner. The Mets are playing good baseball, but they haven't been able to put much cushion between themselves and the Phillies since moving into first place.

Mike Pelfrey has really stepped up this season and did again last night, limiting the Braves to three hits in a complete game, 6-3 Mets victory. David Wright continued his run at the NL MVP with his 24th home run and 97th RBI. Rookie Dan Murphy's two RBI gave him 11 in 18 games and he's batting .404 in 47 at-bats.

The Phillies got a complete game of their own from Brett Myers, who scattered nine hits in shutting down the Nationals 4-0. Washington has lost 12 straight. After a brief stint in the minors, Myers has returned to form and is 3-1, 1.47 in his last five starts.

The Marlins' hopes are fading away. They dropped a 6-5 game to the Giants last night that put them 5 games behind the Mets and 7.5 behind the wildcard-leading Brewers. Florida rallied for 3 runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game, but Bengie Molina's sac fly won it for the Giants in the bottom of the ninth.

Speaking of the Brewers, they got themselves back to within 5 games of the Cubs with a 5-2 win over the Astros. J.J. Hardy hit a 2-run home run to help Manny Parra win his 10th game. Ryan Braun sat out for the 9th time in 11 games due to lower back soreness.

The Reds edged the Cubs 2-1 despite starter Ted Lilly allowing just two hits over seven innings.

The Cardinals remained 2.5 behind the Brewers in the wildcard with an 11-2 thumping of the Pirates. Todd Wellemeyer won his career-high 11th game and reached the century mark in strikeouts for the first time.

The Diamondbacks moved two games ahead of the Dodgers with an 8-6 win over the Padres. Neither starter Dan Haren nor Jake Peavy was good, but after allowing four runs in the first inning, Haren settled down to get the win. Adam Dunn belted a 3-run home run, his 34th of the season.

The Rockies played spoilers, beating the Dodgers 4-3. The Dodgers lead 3-0 early, but Brad Hawpe almost single-handedly beat LA. He reached on an error that cut the lead to 3-2, singled in the game-tying run in the seventh, and singled again in the ninth to drive in the go-ahead run.


There was no movement in the AL Central standings as both the White Sox and Twins were daytime winners. Chicago got four home runs in a 15-3 rout of the Mariners. Ken Griffey Jr. tied Sammy CheaterSosa with his 609th career home run, and his first in Chicago. Gavin Floyd earned his 13th win.

Francisco Lirano and four pitchers pitched the Twins to a 3-1 win over the A's. Little-used reserve Mike Redmond drove in two runs.

The AL East's top two teams remained 4.5 apart as they both lost last night. The Angels beat the Rays 5-4, overcoming an early 3-0 deficit, and then winning after blowing a 4-3 lead. Garret Anderson's ninth inning single was the game winner. K-Rod notched his 48th save.

The Red Sox jumped out to a 4-0 lead, but it was all Baltimore after that as the Orioles won it 11-6. Melvin Mora, who had four RBI, and Ramon Hernandez each hit 3-run home runs. Clay Buchholz was hammered for five runs in 2.1 IP and is reportedly headed back to Pawtucket.

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Around the Horn - 5/7

Gavin Floyd came oh so close again. For the 2nd time this season Floyd flirted with a no-hitter. Before Edgar Renteria singled, Floyd had no-hit the Tigers through 7.1 innings on April 12. Last night Floyd gave the U.S. Cellular crowd another thrill as he entered the 9th inning without allowing a hit. After striking out Brendan Harris for the first out (which meant we had to hear Hawk Harrelson give a "he gone"), Floyd's attempt came to an end when Joe Mauer doubled to the gap in left-center field. Center fielder Nick Swisher dove about 15 feet (seemed that way) , but to no avail). Floyd improved to 3-1 as the White Sox dropped the Twins 7-1.

The Red Sox keep rolling and the Tigers keep sliding. Tim Wakefield threw 8 innings of 2-hit ball in the Sox 5-0 win. Look out AL, Big Papi is heating up. David Ortiz homered for the second straight night and has a 6-game hitting streak in which he's hitting .440 (11-25).

Andy Sonnanstine is now 5-1 after the Rays beat the Blue Jays 5-4. Aki Iwamura drove in 2 runs and Eric Hinske homered. The Jays got a scare when slick fielding John McDonald went down with what appeared to be a badly sprained ankle. Starting shortstop David Eckstein is also bothered by a bad hip.

Garrett Anderson 5 Royals 0. The Angels veteran drove in all 5 LA runs with a home run and two singles. Nick Adenhart's start was nearly as bad as his first one, but the Angels bullpen picked him up. Royals starter Brian Bannister has seen his ERA go from 0.86 to 4.46 over his last four starts.

The Rangers used a 7-run 3rd inning to pound the slumping Mariners 10-1. Josh Hamilton, Michael Young, and Dave Murphy drove in 3 runs each. The big shocker though? Sidney Ponson is now 2-0, 1.33 in 2 starts.

Justin Duscherer and the A's bullpen limited the Orioles to 4 hits in the A's 4-2 win. Emil Brown drove in his 28th run, second best in the AL.

The Dodgers overcame a 4-1 deficit to beat the Mets 5-4. Blake DeWitt's 2-run inside-the-park home run was the game winner. The rookie drove in 4 runs on the night.

Carlos Zambrano is 5-1 after limiting the Reds to 3 hits over 8 innings in the Cubs 3-0 win. He was also 1-3 and is hitting .261.

The Marlins got a dominant performance from Scott Olson who allowed 2 hits over 8 and struck out 8 in a 3-0 win against the Brewers. Mike Jacobs slugged his 9th home run and Luis Gonzalez was 4-4.

The Pirates pounded the Giants 12-6 as Zach Duke earned his first win. Nate McClouth slugged a pair of home runs and is hitting .333.

Braden Looper came within 2 outs of a complete game in the Cards 6-5 win over the slumping Rockies. Rick Ankiel homered and Ryan Ludwick was 4-4.

Chipper Jones belted his 396th career home run in the Braves 5-3 win over the Padres. Mark Kotsay also homered to help sink the Padres to 12-21.

Carlos Lee doubled home 2 runs in the bottom of the 8th as the Astros beat the Nationals 6-5. Lance Berkman went 5-5 and is hitting .353.

Stephen Drew hit a 3-run HR and Randy Johnson drew a bases loaded walk in the Diamondbacks 6-4 win over the Phillies. The Big Unit earned his 286th career win.

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Yankees vs. White Sox - 4/24

All eyes on will be on Phil Hughes tonight to see if he can turn things around. The Yankees come in to tonight's contest with a 3-game winning streak and they would like to see their prized prospect give them a legitimate chance to win a fourth straight.

Hughes showed some improvement in his latest loss to the Orioles, but he still allowed too many base runners. Some of that improvement may have been a change in his mechanics and some warmer temps than he had seen in his previous two starts. The weather will be mild tonight, but an 80% chance of rain and thunder storms could put a damper on things.

Hughes has never faced the White Sox before and the only player he has faced that's on the team is Orlando Cabrera, who is hitless in two at-bats.

Gavin Floyd (2-0, 1.40) has been outstanding thus far in his second season in Chicago. He took a no-hitter into the 8th inning against the Tigers, and allowed just 2 hits to the Orioles in his last 6 inning start.

Floyd has faced the Yankees just once, allowing 5 runs in 3 innings pitched. Here's the very limited breakdown against him.

Bobby Abreu 1-1
Melky Cabrera 0-2
Robinson Cano 1-1
Johnny Damon 1-1 1 HR 1 RBI
Derek Jeter 0-2
Hideki Matsui 1-2 1 HR 2 RBI
Jorge Posada 1-1
Alex Rodriguez 0-2

Lineups to follow a little later.

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Breaking News: Floyd No-No Broken Up in 8th

White Sox starter Gavin Floyd took a no-hitter into the 8th inning against the Tigers, but Edgar Renteria just broke it up with a bloop single to right. Floyd came back from a 3-1 count to strike out Jacques Jones, before Renteria took a 1-1 pitch the opposite way for the Tigers first hit of the day.

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