Pettitte Emphatically Redeems Himself

It was a poised and polished performance typical of a season in which he never lost two consecutive decisions, was 13-3 in 17 starts following a New York Yankee loss and went 21-8 overall as the expected winner of the American League’s Cy Young Award.

More than that, said David Cone of teammate Andy Pettitte’s 1-0 victory over John Smoltz and the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 of the World Series Thursday night, “it was something on which to build a career.”

Reminded that Pettitte, 33-17 after only two seasons, is already building an impressive career, Cone said:

“That’s true, but beating a John Smoltz at the top of his game in a classic World Series pitching duel is a defining moment that can have a carry-over effect down the line.”

The 24-year-old left-hander turned an unearned run in the fourth inning into a sweep of the three games at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium and a 3-2 New York lead in a Series that resumes at Yankee Stadium Saturday night.

In the last game to be played in the stadium known as the Launching Pad, Pettitte grounded the Braves on four hits over 8 1/3 tense innings to reverse his Game 1 embarrassment in which he gave up seven runs and six hits in 2 1/3 innings of a loss to Smoltz, king of the October hill.

A defining moment? Something on which to build a career?

Pettitte wasn’t looking that far ahead.

“I’m just thankful I could come back and have a good outing after that horrible start in the first game and with the bullpen down tonight [having been drained by Wednesday night’s 8-6 win in 10 innings],” he said. “I was really happy when Coney won Game 3 because it meant I was going to get another opportunity. I didn’t want to end the season on that bad note in Game 1.”

Pettitte seldom pitches two bad games in a row. He went seven innings in a no-decision in a 5-4 Yankee victory over Baltimore in Game 1 of the American League championship series, then won the Game 5 clincher, 6-4, with a brilliant eight innings in which he gave up only three hits and two runs.

Asked what he learned from his Game 1 embarrassment against the Braves, Pettitte smiled and said, “I wasn’t out there long enough to learn anything. I never got a feel for what they were trying to do against me, but tonight I was throwing nothing but sinkers away and maybe that surprised them since it was different than the way I pitched all year.”

Pettitte generally pitches in with a live fastball, but he had such good movement while staying away against the Orioles in that clinching game that he told catcher Jim Leyritz that he wanted to try the same thing in this one.

“My ball was running like crazy and we stayed out there all night, and they never seemed to adjust to it,” Pettitte said.

In a game that demands adjustment, Manager Joe Torre said Pettitte was overprepared and overthrowing in the opener against the Braves, trying to do too much just because it was a postseason game, but rebounded in his typical way.

“He was on his game tonight, keeping the ball down, keeping it away,” Torre said. “The kid’s got a lot of heart, a lot of courage. He never backs off.”

Pettitte also helps himself in other ways. He led the majors with 11 pickoffs this year and he picked off Andruw Jones after Jones had singled to open the fifth inning. In the sixth, with two on and no outs, Pettitte came off the mound to pounce on Mark Lemke’s sacrifice bunt attempt and, never hesitating, turned it into a forceout at third. He then got Chipper Jones to tap to the mound and wheeled, firing to second to start a threat-erasing double play.

“That was not a bad bunt [by Lemke],” Atlanta Manager Bobby Cox said, “but Pettitte was on it like a cat. He’s a pretty good-looking athlete, and he was a lot different-looking pitcher than we saw the other night. He matched Smoltz pitch for pitch. There shouldn’t have been a loser.”

The reversal by Pettitte characterized the Series. Once down 0-2, the Yankees are now up 3-2 and heading home with an 8-0 record on the road in the postseason.

“We were embarrassed [by the two losses] in New York and came down here with everyone talking about Atlanta’s place in history as if we were just the props in this Series,” Cone said.

“We came down here with something to prove and did. We showed we have some pitching too, and that’s something to be proud of.

“I’m not demeaning the Atlanta staff, but there’s something to be said for winning three straight in their home park and winning the last one against John Smoltz, 1-0.”

Something to be said? Like the defining moment of a career?