Pettitte Earns High Praise From Erstad

Darin Erstad has faced Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson and Mariano Rivera, and none, in the opinion of the Angel center fielder, measure up to New York Yankee left-hander Andy Pettitte.

“I’ve said it a million times, he’s the toughest pitcher I’ve ever faced in the big leagues, hands down,” Erstad said. “He’s deceptive, he has great stuff, he changes speeds, he has a nasty cutter, he has a great arm angle, and he’s a great competitor. That’s a great combination.”

Pettitte limited the Angels to two runs on seven hits in seven innings of the Yankees’ 4-2 victory Friday night, dropping the Angels 5 1/2 games behind the Cleveland Indians in the wild-card race. Erstad was hitless in five at-bats, dropping his career average against Pettitte to .156 (five for 32).

Pettitte did some of his best work under pressure, striking out Shawn Wooten with two on to end the first, striking out Bengie Molina and Benji Gil with a runner on second to end the second and retiring David Eckstein and Erstad on fly balls with two on to end the fifth.

Although Pettitte gave up two runs in the seventh on Eckstein’s double, he helped prevent an even bigger inning by picking off Scott Spiezio at first when the Angels had runners on first and second and no outs. It was Pettitte’s sixth pickoff of the season and 60th of his career.

“He has about as good a [pickoff] move as you’re going to see,” Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said. “He, as much as anything else, was the reason we didn’t get many good swings with guys on base.”

Molina thought his two-out, bases-loaded flare to right-center in the eighth inning was going to drop before Yankee center fielder Bernie Williams made a spectacular catch, but Molina was hardly surprised.

“He robbed me a few years ago in a winter league game in Puerto Rico,” Molina said. “It was 3-3 in the 10th, two outs, I hit a line drive to center field and he made a diving catch. Tough luck for me, I guess. That’s the way it’s been all year.”

The Yankees, who increased their lead in the East to five games over the Boston Red Sox, have won 10 of 12 games, hitting 27 home runs during the stretch. They improved to 28-28 against the Angels in the Joe Torre era. The Angels were the only team in the major leagues with a winning record against the Yankees under Torre, who has managed the team since 1996.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’

ISMAEL VALDES

(7-6, 3.72)

vs.

YANKEES’

ROGER CLEMENS

(15-1, 3.58)

Yankee Stadium, New York, 10 a.m.

Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

Update--Clemens turns 39 today, and with the exception of a minor groin injury here and there, the Yankee ace has shown no signs of aging. The right-hander is tied with Arizona’s Curt Schilling for the major league lead in wins, and his only loss was to Seattle on May 20. He has a 26-8 career record and 2.49 earned-run average against the Angels, more wins than he has against any other opponent. Valdes, who will make his first career start against the Yankees, is 3-2 with a 1.99 ERA in five starts since coming off the disabled list July 5.