Pettitte Helps Red-Hot Yankees Rout Diamondbacks

Jun 14, 09:15 PM

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Bronx, NY (Sports Network) - Andy Pettitte hurled eight brilliant innings as New York dumped Arizona, 7-1, to complete a three-game sweep of the Diamondbacks at Yankee Stadium.

Pettitte (4-4), who turns 35 on Friday, dazzled Arizona with his vaunted cutter, a cut-fastball that dives in on the hands of a right-handed batter. The veteran lefty allowed just one run on four hits, while walking one and striking out four in the game.

"He always seems like he keeps us in a game," Yankees captain Derek Jeter said of Pettitte. "And this year he seems to be even better. It's really fun to play behind him when he has it going like he did."

Alex Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with two runs batted in and two runs scored for the streaking Yankees, who have won nine straight games and 10 of 11. Rodriguez now has 68 RBI on the year which leads the major leagues.

"You have to make your own breaks and we have been able to do that," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "The season is full of streaks and you hope the good ones outweigh the bad ones."

Hideki Matsui finished 3-for-4 with three RBI for New York, while Bobby Abreu was 1-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

Scott Hairston drove in the only run for the Diamondbacks, who have lost six of seven contests.

Doug Davis (4-8) surrendered four runs on six hits in five innings of work en route to the loss. The veteran walked five and fanned five in the game.

"We didn't play well enough to win the game today," said Arizona manger Bob Melvin. "We didn't swing the bats well enough. We didn't pitch well and we didn't play defense. You are not going to beat a hot team playing that way."

The Yankees played some station-to-station baseball to take an early 2-0 lead in the first inning. Melky Cabrera, Jeter and Abreu led off the frame with consecutive singles to load the bases. Rodriguez followed by walking to force in a run and, after Jorge Posada fanned, Matsui hit a slow grounder to second to drive in another.

The D'Backs quickly got one back in the second. Mark Reynolds laced a double to center that grazed off the glove of Cabrera, moved to third on Chad Tracy's ground ball to first and scored on Hairston's ground ball to short.

New York added a pair of runs in the third. Abreu drew a walk to lead off and quickly crossed the plate after Rodriguez laced a double to left. Rodriguez was also able to advance to third on the play when Hairston misplayed the carom off the wall. A batter later, Matsui plated Rodriguez by ripping a double to right to make it a 4-1 game.

The Yankees then put things away with three more runs in the seventh. Rodriguez and Posada set the table with a pair of singles to start the inning. The D'Backs then went to Doug Slaten but Matsui greeted the reliever by looping a single in front of Young in center. Rodriguez scored on the play and Young air-mailed his throw over the head of Reynolds at third, enabling Posada to cross the plate and Matsui to advance into scoring position. Josh Phelps then came through with a one-out RBI single off Tony Pena to give New York a 7-1 advantage.

"He's been so good all year," Torre said of Pettitte. "He was in control all game. He's so good at what he does."

Game Notes

The Diamondbacks slick-fielding second baseman, Orlando Hudson. left the game with an apparent left ankle injury. Hudson lined a two-out single to right off New York starter Andy Pettitte in the sixth inning but began to limp as he headed down the first base line. After trainers took a look at him, Hudson limped off the field and was replaced by Alberto Callaspo...Jeter was 2-for-3 and extended his hitting streak to nine games...Pettitte has faced the Diamondbacks seven times and is just 2-5 against them...The Yankees are now 110-73 in interleague play, the best in all of baseball...The Yankees nine-game winning streak is their longest since they won 10 straight games in May of 2005 and is the longest winning streak by any major league team this season...Attendance was 53,712.

06/14 20:22:52 ET