Pettitte solid in Yankees' win over Athletics

Baseball Betting Lines

04/21/2009 - Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andy Pettitte threw seven strong innings to lead the New York Yankees in a 5-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics in the first night game at the new Yankee Stadium.

Pettitte (2-0) gave up two runs on nine hits in his time on the hill for New York, which won its second straight game and third in four tries. Mariano Rivera tossed a scoreless ninth to pick up his fourth save on the year. It was also the 57th time Rivera saved a game for Pettitte, tying Oakland's Dennis Eckersley and Bob Welch for the all-time lead in "win-save combinations" since the save became an official statistic in 1969.

Johnny Damon went 2-for-5 with a homer and finished with two RBI, while Brett Gardner also knocked in a pair of runs in the win. Mark Teixeira had an RBI in the win, as Derek Jeter and Hideki Matsui both had two hits and scored a run.

Mark Ellis drove in two runs for the A's, who dropped their third consecutive game. Kurt Suzuki went 4-for-4 and had the other RBI for Oakland. Rajai Davis went 2-for-3 in the setback.

Jason Giambi, who played for the Yankees from 2002-2008, went 1-for-4 with a run scored.

Dana Eveland (0-1) was saddled with the loss after giving up four runs on nine hits in just four innings of work for the A's.

Damon belted a solo homer to right field off Andrew Bailey in the sixth to give the Yankees a 5-2 cushion.

Brian Bruney took over on the hill for Pettitte to start the eighth and retired Giambi and Matt Holliday to start the frame. Jack Cust, though, connected for a single and moved to second on a wild pitch before coming around to score on Ellis' double to the gap in right-center. Eric Chavez lined out to Robinson Cano at second, but not before the A's closed it to 5-3.

Rivera came in to close it out for New York in the ninth and gave up a leadoff single to Suzuki. Pinch-hitter Travis Buck hit a slow roller to Cano, but the second baseman misplayed it and was only able to get Suzuki on the basepath. Ryan Sweeney was caught looking at the third strike for the second out and Orlando Cabrera popped out to Rivera to end the game.

The Yankees got on the board in the second inning. Nick Swisher led off with a walk and Matsui followed with a double before Cody Ransom flied out. Gardner then hit a line drive up the middle to score both runs, and nabbed second base. Jeter hit a shot up the middle that caromed off Ellis' glove, leaving runners at the corners, and Damon clubbed an RBI single to right but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.

Teixeira kept it going with an RBI single to left, making it 4-0, and Jorge Posada made it first and second with a base hit. Cano, though, flied out to kill the rally.

Oakland solved Pettitte to make it 4-2 in the fourth inning. Singles from Giambi, Holliday and Cust loaded the bases with no outs. Ellis grounded out to plate Giambi, and Chavez grounded out as well. Suzuki slugged an RBI single but Davis flied out to end the inning.

Game Notes

Cust's single in the eighth snapped a string of 22 consecutive batters retired by Bruney. It was longest such streak since Chien-Ming Wang retired 23 consecutive batters in 2008...The scheduled opener of this series was washed away due to rain on Monday, and the clubs will wrap up the shortened two- game series Wednesday afternoon. A makeup date for Monday's tilt has yet to be set, but the two teams are scheduled to meet at Yankee Stadium between July 24-26...Pettitte, who's won 14 or more games in each of the past four seasons, owns an 11-5 record over 20 career starts against Oakland. He was stellar in two outings versus the A's in 2008, as the 36-year-old won both of those starts and yielded just two runs on nine hits over a combined 16 innings of work...Eveland lost his only previous start against the Yankees, which came last June in Oakland, but allowed only two runs over six innings in that game...New York won five of six meetings with the Athletics in 2008 and swept a three-game set in Oakland's final trip to the old Yankee Stadium last July...It was Damon's 2,000th career game.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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