Despite Win, Pettitte Has Yankees Worried

Andy Pettitte rubbed his temple, scratched his head and let out a deep sigh. Another start, another shaky performance.

The Yankee left-hander had just gutted out six innings, and before his night was dissected, Pettitte was asked: “What do you think?”

“What do you think?” he said.

Paul O’Neill hit two home runs for the second consecutive game and the Yankees overcame a so-so outing by Pettitte for an 8-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday night.

Pettitte (16-9) gave up five runs and seven hits with five walks in six innings. The left-hander, who has accounted for nearly one-quarter of the Yankees’ losses, won for only the second time in five starts and is one of Yankee Manager Joe Torre’s few concerns as postseason approaches.

“Scuffled through it again,” said Pettitte, who has given up 25 runs in his last 30 innings. “All I know is that I’m struggling and the team never quit.”

With their 103rd victory, the Yankees opened a 21-game advantage over the second-place Red Sox, the largest lead a Yankee team has ever enjoyed at any time in a season.

Jose Canseco hit a three-run homer for Toronto, which lost for only the second time in 13 games and fell five games behind Boston in the AL wild-card race.