Pettitte Plays The Role Of Stopper Again

In the glory days, Andy Pettitte played a role rarely talked about in baseball: he was the stopper. In 1996, Andy Pettitte had more than half of his wins the day after a Yankee loss. This year, he's also been the stopper of losing streaks: Pettitte is 3-1 the day after a Yankees loss (his lone loss coming against Boston Red Sox who no Yankee pitcher since Mike Mussina has been able to beat).

And he continued that "stopper" mentality again as he shut down the Marlins. There is something to be said about just going after hitters. Instead of aiming for corners, Andy Pettitte went after an agressive Marlins team and got the Yankees a solid 7 innings. Part of his success may have been pitching away from home; he has an ERA of over 5.75 at home and 2.35 on the road.

He also helped wake up the Yankees offense with a big double in their 4-run inning. On a day where A-Rod sat, Derek Jeter played hurt, and Brett Gardner was unable to go after making severe contact with the wall (I think Bobby Abreu cried watching that highlight), Andy was Dandy once again. Now they need to turn the losing streak into a winning streak with AJ Burnett and CC Sabathia closing out this series.