Fix on Fly Helps Pettitte Pad Postseason Record, Bury Phils in Game 3

PHILADELPHIA -- Of Andy Pettitte's record 17 postseason wins, he may be proudest, in a way, of No. 17.

"I can't remember winning a game where I've struggled like I did tonight," Pettitte said after the Yankees won Game 3 of the World Series. "It's very gratifying to be able to go out there and just battle through it."

For two innings Saturday, Pettitte was awful. He could not hit catcher Jorge Posada's target. Pettitte needed 51 pitches to get through those first two innings, and he gave up three runs to the Phillies in a 31-pitch second, digging a big hole for the Yankees.

But because of the lefty's history, the Yankees were confident he could find his way. And pitching coach Dave Eiland spotted Pettitte's mechanical flaw.

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"He was kind of rushing a little bit," Eiland told FanHouse, "so his arm was dragging. [Then] he stayed back over the rubber longer and got his arm out.

"After the second inning he corrected it."

In other words, Pettitte's body was out of synch. His right side was headed toward the plate before he balanced himself in mid-delivery, and as a result, his left arm was behind his body, makng it hard for him to keep his fingers on top of the ball. That causes the pitching arm to fall to the side instead of over the top and the ball to spin sideways -- making controlling it impossible.


Eiland mentioned the problem on a mound visit during the second inning, after Jayson Werth had homered, Pedro Feliz had doubled and Carlos Ruiz walked. But Eiland had more time after the inning was over to demonstrate the problem.

Pettitte was also thrown off by the one-hour, 20-minute rain delay. A creature of habit, he had his pregame routine disturbed.

"I've had a lot of rain delays this year already, and I feel like I've been pitching in a lot of rain," he said. "But it affected me a little bit today.

"I was heated up and ready to go and felt like I was in a real, real good place mentally, and right as I was about to walk out the door to go to the bullpen, they shut me down."

"I couldn't put the ball where I wanted to, I wasn't getting it down and away consistently like I wanted to, and like I said, I wasn't able to throw my curveball for strikes. It was an absolute grind tonight, that's for sure."
-- Andy Pettitte But by the third inning, all was fixed.

"He really was trying to do too much," Posada said. "He really calmed down a little bit and went to business."

Said Pettitte: "There's not a whole lot of anything that can help you except just trying to just keep battling and keep trying to get it there and keep trying to get it there, and hopefully it'll come around."

As the Yankees offense broke out, Pettitte retired 17 of the final 20 batters he faced and needed just 53 pitches for his last four innings.

"I felt like I started getting a few balls where I wanted to get them," he said. "But it was a battle tonight. I wasn't able to get ahead. I wasn't able to get my breaking ball over.

"I'm not going to lie to you, I couldn't put the ball where I wanted to, I wasn't getting it down and away consistently like I wanted to, and like I said, I wasn't able to throw my curveball for strikes. It was an absolute grind tonight, that's for sure."

Still, Pettitte held Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez -- all left-handed hitters -- 0-for-9 with six strikeouts.

"I thought Andy located well, I thought he used his fastball well, he came inside well," manager Joe Girardi said. "He just did a lot of things to get three really good hitters out."

Pettitte also had a big hit for the Yankees, dumping a single to center field in the fifth that scored Nick Swisher and tied the game 3-3. It was the first game-tying RBI for a pitcher in a World Series game since the Phillies' Johny Denny in 1983.

After Derek Jeter singled, Johnny Damon doubled -- and Jeter almost ran down Pettitte as both scored.

"I am very slow," Pettitte said. "I mean, very slow.

"I'm not going to lie to you guys, I was gassed tonight. I mean, I was gassed running around the bases. Then the next inning I had to cover first, and that gassed my legs even more. It was a rough night for me."

But Pettitte would have never had that at-bat had the Yankees not trusted him to get on track.

"They had him on the ropes," general manager Brian Cashman said. "That's what the veterans do, people with experience -- they know, 'You know what, just because you take a punch or two in the first round, doesn't mean it's a knockout.'"

And there was Pettitte, up off the canvas to punch back at the Phillies.

"He's always going to grind and battle," Eiland said. "He never gives in. So it's not anything new for him, or surprising."