If Andy Pettitte feels any rust after missing an entire season of baseball, he did not show it last night.
The 39-year-old lefthander pitched eight scoreless innings to lead the Yankees past the Cincinnati Reds 4-0. It was just his second start after coming out of retirement and his first regular season win since July 2010.
In all, Pettitte went 680 days between regular-season wins, the most for the Yankees since Carl Pavano 's 687 from May 22, 2005 to April 9, 2007, according to STATS LLC.
Pettitte was his old self last night, dominating Reds hitters with the mix of an excellent cutter and a sharp curve. He limited the Reds to just four singles and did not allow a runner past first base.
"When I caught him, years and years ago, it was fastball, cutter and really curveball. He's got so many more weapons to go to," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "I thought he could bring some stabilization to our rotation. And I think he'll do that just because of who he is, his personality, his will, his focus. We are a different rotation with him."
The Reds certainly were impressed as well. "He must have been doing something real good when he was retired," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "He looked as sharp as I've ever seen him."
"Even though he might not have quite the stuff that he used to, he tries to pitch smart, never really gets in a pattern and he made his pitches," said Jay Bruce. "He was doing exactly what he wanted to do out there tonight, and we could never get anything going."
Pettitte retired following the 2010 season, in which he was an All-Star. After one season at home, the game came calling again. "I miss the competition," Pettitte said. "I do - I guess I do miss this, from the standpoint of being around the team and stuff like that."
The time off does not seem to have affected him and Pettitte feels confident in his ability to pitch effectively as long as he is physically able to. "I felt like I could do this, and now it's just like I feel like the mind's getting back there," Pettitte "I'm just hoping and praying the body holds up."
