GAME THREAD: AL: BALTIMORE (64-86) at NY YANKEES (87-64)

Pettitte wins 200th as Yankees edge Orioles

<h3>NY YANKEES 2, BALTIMORE 1</h3>By Larry Fleisher
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- On a night when the offense musteredlittle, the New York Yankees did not need to fret because theyhad Andy Pettitte on the mound.


Pettitte pitched effectively into the eighth inning for his200th career victory as the Yankees completed a three-game sweepof the Baltimore Orioles with a 2-1 victory on Wednesday.

The Yankees (88-64), who won for the 12th time in their last 14games, climbed within 1 1/2 games of the first-place Boston RedSox (90-63) in the American League East Division. Bostondropped a 6-1 decision to Toronto on Wednesday.


"It's always the goal," Yankees captain Derek Jeter said of thedivision title. "I said it from the get-go, when we were 20games out, that's the first goal - winning the division. Wecan't worry about that now because we don't play them. Our goalnow is to win the games we play."


New York also moved 5 1/2 games ahead of Detroit for the ALLeague wild card lead and reduced their magic number forclinching their 13th straight postseason berth to five.

"Right now, the wins are extremely important," Pettitte said."It was a great win for us. It was exciting, that's for sure,with all the stuff that was going on. I was watching on TV andthey were showing a Boston score. I know the fans are reallyinto it, so it was definitely exciting."


New York's latest win came courtesy of Pettitte (14-8), whoallowed just an RBI single in the sixth by Melvin Mora amongseven hits. He struck out four, walked two and worked quickly,throwing 65-of-104 pitches for strikes.


The veteran lefthander improved to 10-2 in 14 starts since theAll-Star break and also became the 27th lefthander to record 200victories.


Of those 200 wins, 162 have been with the Yankees, who re-signedhim in the offseason following three campaigns in Houston.

"You know the quality of the 200, and I witnessed a number ofthem," New York manager Joe Torre said. "When you considerduring his stay here we were in the playoffs every year, yourealize the quality of the starts.


"If I never see Andy Pettitte again, I'll never forget GameFive, 1-0 against Atlanta (in the 1996 World Series). For ayoung man, he showed me about as much heart as you could everimagine. He's earned his stripes."


This milestone also was extra special for Pettitte as his wifeand parents were on hand to witness the victory.


"My wife won't leave my kids for too long," Pettitte joked. "Shewasn't able to be in Boston (for my last start), so she flew upand my parents were here, so that was extremely special."

"He's done so many things," Jeter said. "He's been sosuccessful in big games. He's been so consistent that anytimesomeone has that success, you always have confidence in him.I've been playing with Andy since 1992, so I've seen it for along time. Anytime he takes the mound, you expect good things."

In this one, Pettitte allowed less than three runs for the 18thtime this season and received tremendous support from hisdefense.


Catcher Jorge Posada threw out Aubrey Huff attempting to stealin the second inning and gunned down counterpart Ramon Hernandezin the fifth. First baseman Doug Mientkiewicz also made threesolid plays, including a diving stop of a throw from thirdbaseman Alex Rodriguez in the sixth that retired Miguel Tejada.

The former Gold Glove first baseman also made a nice stretch tosnag Rodriguez's throw in the eighth that retired Brian Roberts.

Two nights after allowing his first career earned run, rookieJoba Chamberlain came on immediately afterward and struck outMora on an 87 mile-per-hour slider. Mariano Rivera workedaround a double and a pair of walks in the ninth, striking outpinch hitter Scott Moore with the bases loaded to nail down his30th save in 33 opportunities.


"I wish we could have given him one more problem tonight," saidOrioles manager Dave Trembley, whose team handed Rivera a blownsave on August 13. "He had to work for it. It wasn't given tohim."


Rivera loaded the bases for the second consecutive outing butreached the 30-save mark for the fifth straight season and 10thtime in 11 campaigns as New York's closer.


Despite the fact Boston had lost while he was on the mound,Rivera was focused on putting away Baltimore.


"I was too busy doing my thing," he said. "I had no clue. Iwas too busy trying to save the game for Andy."


After scoring 20 runs in the first two games of the series, theYankees struggled to generate offense against Baltimore starterBrian Burres (6-6).


Hideki Matsui's 25th home run gave New York a 1-0 lead in thesecond inning. The blast was his second of the series aftergoing 122 at-bats without homering.


Five innings later, New York manufactured its second run.Mientkiewicz opened the inning with a base hit to right field,took second on Jeter's single, moved to third on a groundout andscored when Burres threw a wild pitch that sailed overRodriguez's head.


Burres, who held the Yankees to four hits and recorded sevenstrikeouts in six innings in Baltimore on July 28, pitchednearly as well as Pettitte. He allowed just two runs and fivehits in 7 1/3 innings.


"(Pettitte) was pitching great," Burres said. "He was reallypitching well. I knew after a couple of innings it should beone of those games, and I just wish I hadn't made the mistake."

"There's something to be said about the powers of positivethinking," Trembley said. "That's what it's all about withBurres. Burres is a guy that you have to get him to believe whohe is and what he has and get him to get focused."

It was another frustrating night for the Orioles, who have lost22 of their last 27 games. Besides wasting a solid outing fromBurress, their frustrations reached the breaking point in thefifth, when Jay Payton was ejected for arguing a called thirdstrike with plate umpire Mike Reilly.


It was the second ejection of the series for Payton, who threwhis bat and helmet to the ground as he stormed off toward thedugout.