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Pettitte, Giambi help Yankees roll past Tigers

Aug 18, 2007 - 5:09 AM BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- Heavy rains made for a long night at Yankee Stadium, but Andy Pettitte made the delay worthwhile for the New York Yankees, giving them exactly what they needed.

Pettitte tied a season high with eight solid innings, Bobby Abreu had three hits and Jason Giambi homered twice as the Yankees snapped a three-game losing streak with a 6-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night.

After opening the four-game series with an 8-5 loss on Thursday, the Yankees were hoping to get a better peformance on the mound in this one, and they received just that. They just had to wait a little longer than usual, however, as a heavy downpour caused the start of the game to be delayed for 1 hour, 14 minutes.

Once the contest got underway, the showers stayed away and fans were able to enjoy a solid performance by Pettitte (10-7), who won his fourth straight start. On a 69-degree night, he allowed Brandon Inge's one-out RBI double in the third among five hits.

"I'm just trying to give us a good start," Pettitte said. "I'm glad I was able to. It was a good game for us."

The veteran lefthander struck out five, walked one and threw 71-of-104 pitches for strikes as the Yankees won for the 10th time in 14 games.

"Andy is the go-to guy to stop the bleeding," New York manager Joe Torre said. "He's so solid. I watched this in 1996. The only thing I see different now since he's been back is that he doesn't mind being the guy out there."

Two of Pettitte's strikeouts came against prized prospect Cameron Maybin, who started in left field for the Tigers after being brought up from Class AA Erie earlier in the day. After striking out in the first inning, Maybin was fanned again in the third with two runners aboard after being ahead in the count 3-1.

"I was a little anxious," Maybin admitted. "I tried to make things happen. I was just rushing everything, trying to make something happen so bad."

Pettitte pitched into the eighth for the sixth time this season, and it helped the Yankees rest their bullpen, using only rookie Joba Chamberlain for a scoreless ninth.

"I felt good," Pettitte said. "I've been throwing my two-seamer a little bit better, and that helped me. That helped me an awful lot."

After Inge's hit, Pettitte retired 17 of the final 20 hitters he faced, and his teammates gradually got to Detroit starter Nate Robertson (7-10). He also improved to 43-16 lifetime in August and did not allow a home run for a fifth straight start.

"He was good," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "We didn't do much with him. He just mixes speeds. He cuts the ball and changes it up on us. He knows how to pitch. He's been doing it a long time."

Abreu, who entered with six hits in his previous 23 at-bats, got things started in the third with a well-placed single over shortstop Carlos Guillen's head that allowed Robinson Cano to score, tying the game at 1-1.

Alex Rodriguez followed with an RBI ground-rule double to left field and Giambi led off the fourth with his 10th home run of the season and third since returning from the disabled list.

The Yankees maintained their two-run lead until the sixth, when they added a pair on Phillips' two-run double to deep left-center field.

Phillips' hit came moments after the scoreboard showed that the Boston Red Sox blew a one-run lead to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The Yankees added another insurance run in eighth, when Giambi launched a shot into the upper deck in right field. It was his 35th career multi-homer game and first since August 20 at Boston.

"I'm swinging the bat good," Giambi said. "My foot feels great. This is a fresh part of the year for me."

The contributions from Pettitte, Abreu and Giambi enabled the Yankees (68-54) to climb within five games of the Red Sox (73-49), who won the opener of their day-night doubleheader. New York remained one-half game behind Seattle (67-52) in the AL wild card race.

Robertson fell to 1-5 lifetime against the Yankees as he allowed five runs and 10 hits in six innings.

"They didn't have many deep counts on me tonight," Robertson said. "They battled and made it tough on me. I feel good about the way I threw the baseball. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out the way we wanted."

With the loss, Detroit (67-55) fell one-half game behind Cleveland (67-54) in the AL Central. The Indians posted a 2-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Friday.