Andy Pettitte Ineffective in First Start After Tough Offseason As Yankees Lose to Tampa Bay
By JAY COHEN | Associated Press | Apr 5, 08 3:31 PM CDT in
Sports
Andy Pettitte got the warm reception he was hoping for when he made his first start after a rocky offseason. The rest of the day didn't exactly go as planned.
Jonny Gomes homered and drove in four runs against Pettitte to help the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 6-3 on Saturday.
Pettitte was on a shorter-than-normal pitch count after he opened the season on the disabled list with back spasms. He lasted just five innings and was outpitched by Edwin Jackson, who held the powerful Yankees lineup in check. Troy Percival pitched the ninth for his first save.
It was Pettitte's first regular-season start since he admitted using human growth hormone and accused buddy and former teammate Roger Clemens of also using HGH.
New York again was without Joe Girardi, who missed his second straight game with an upper respiratory infection. Bench coach Rob Thomson managed for the second straight day.
Yankees slugger Jason Giambi departed in the fifth inning with a sore left groin. He is day to day.
Jackson (1-0) allowed one run and five hits in six innings and Willie Aybar homered for the Rays, who have won the first two of the four-game series between teams that clashed in spring training.
Pettitte's turbulent winter started when the Mitchell Report was released in December. Brian McNamee, the former personal trainer to Pettitte and Clemens, said in the report that Pettitte used HGH in 2002 while with the Yankees.
Pettitte first said he only used HGH once, but later admitted he also took injections in 2004 after obtaining the substance from his ailing father.
Pettitte also was asked to testify before a House committee investigating drug use in sports but was excused after he appeared for a deposition and submitted an affidavit. He told congressional lawyers that Clemens informed him nearly a decade ago he had used HGH and said McNamee let him know in 2003 or 2004 that Clemens had used steroids.
Clemens claims Pettitte "misremembers."
Gomes was back in the lineup after serving a one-game suspension for his role in a bench-clearing incident against the Yankees on March 12. He went 2-for-3 with a sacrifice fly.
Notes:@ The Rays placed C Dioner Navarro on the 15-day disabled list and called up C Mike DiFelice from Triple-A Durham. Navarro needed stitches on two fingers on his right hand after a nasty fall in the dugout during Friday night's game. ... Rays DH Elliot Johnson singled to left in the fourth inning for his first major league hit, and was picked off by Pettitte. ... The Yankees optioned right-hander Jonathan Albaladejo to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before the game to make room for Pettitte.
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