Andy Pettitte Dominates as Yanks Sweep A's

The Yankees still can't hit, but it hasn't hurt them yet.

The Bombers managed just two runs off of A's ace Justin Duchscherer, but it was enough, thanks to another gem by Andy Pettitte.

Pettitte became the latest pitcher to silence the worst hitting team in the league, holding Oakland to just one run on four hits and no walks over eight innings.  He also struck out nine.

The sweep jumps the Yankees two games ahead of the A's in the Wild Card, just two back of Minnesota and 3.5 behind Boston, as the Red Sox get set to play the Angels Sunday night.  New York also only trails Tampa Bay by 4.5 for first place in the AL East.

Here are the grades from the Yanks 2-1 win over Oakland.

Joe Girardi, Manager: (B) Girardi threw a relatively weak lineup out there Sunday with Posada benched in favor of Wilson Betemit.  That didn't do anything to help the struggling offense as Betemit went 0-3 with two Ks.

I did, however, like that Girardi let Pettitte pitch the eighth after pulling Joba Chamberlain too early the day before.

Derek Jeter, SS: (C+) Jeter doubled and scored in four at bats.

Bobby Abreu, RF: (C-) Abreu went 1-4 at the plate and was involved in a wacky play in the field. 

Late in the game, Abreu lost a ball in the sun, but appeared to still make the catch before dropping the ball on the transfer.  Nevertheless, the umpire said Bobby never made the catch and so he threw the ball in to try to force Sweeney at second. 

The throw sailed over Jeter at the bag, but A-Rod made a heads up play backing up and tossed the ball to the Captain for the force.  In the end, Abreu avoided an error and picked up his league-leading ninth outfield assist in the process.

Alex Rodriguez, 3B: (A) A-Rod finally got that run in from third with less than two outs when he hit a sac fly in the third for the game's first run.  He also singled in three other at bats and made that good defensive play mentioned earlier.

Jason Giambi, DH: (A+) Giambi, who usually struggles batting cleanup, didn't on this day, once again dominating Duchscherer for a homer and two walks.  He also added a rare infield hit.  Giambi is now 6-8 with four HR against the A's ace.

Robinson Cano, 2B: (A) Cano continued his great start to the second half, going 2-4.

Wilson Betemit, 1B: (F) Betemit went 0-3 with two strikeouts and will not be playing much when Johnny Damon returns and/or the Yanks add another bat.

Melky Cabrera, CF: (C-) 0-2 with a walk.

Jose Molina, C: (D) Molina was 0-3, but made his impact felt behind the plate once again, throwing out Davis to end the game.

Brett Gardner, LF: (F) The rookie can't make an impact on the base paths if he doesn't get on base.  His 0-3 Sunday drops him to .163 on the year.

Richie Sexson, 1B: (INC) Sexson entered for defensive purposes in the ninth.

Andy Pettitte, SP: (A+) Pettitte is now 6-2 with a 2.18 ERA in his last eight starts.  He moves to 11-7 on the year and drops his ERA below 4 to 3.86.

Mariano Rivera, RP: (A) A little bit easier when there's room for error.

Yankees Overall Grade: (B-) So much for pitching being the Yanks' weakness.  They gave up just five runs in the three games against Oakland, but New York scored just 13 (six in the last two games). 

The Yankees may be able to continue winning low-scoring games against the Twins this week, but they'll have to wake their bats up next weekend at Fenway Park.