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Pettitte, Giambi guide Yankees to fifth straight win

Jun 18, 2008 - 3:40 AM BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- Replacing Chien-Ming Wang is a difficult task for the New York Yankees. Getting outings like this from Andy Pettitte is part of the solution.

Pettitte tossed seven stellar innings and Jason Giambi belted a pair of homers as the New York Yankees extended their winning streak to five games with an 8-0 victory over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday.

Pettitte (7-5) turned in his second straight solid outing after allowing a combined 15 runs and 20 hits over his previous two starts. In this one, he limited San Diego to five hits and one walk, striking out a season-high nine in stretching his personal winning streak to four.

"Anytime Andy takes the mound, we expect a quality performance," New York manager Joe Girardi said. "We're so used to seeing it. He's one of the guys we've been counting on all year, and he's throwing the ball real well lately."

"He's been great," Giambi added. "He scuffled a little bit, but tonight he was outstanding, making his pitches, working ahead in spots. The offense worked for him. We just kept pouring it on and had a great game for him."

The lefthander, who improved to 4-1 lifetime against the Padres, picked up his 171st win as a Yankee, moving past Ron Guidry into sole possession of fourth place on the franchise list.

Pettitte's effort came just two days after Wang was lost for at least six weeks with a mid-foot sprain.

"You can't put any more pressure on yourself," Pettitte said of stepping up in Wang's absence. "We can't do nothing. It's our day to pitch and we've got to do our jobs. Whoever comes in here and fills (Wang's) spot, you're not going to replace him.

"He's one of the best pitchers in the league. With what he does with the innings he eats up, you're not going to find anybody in the league that's going to replace that."

It also continued the trend of effective starting pitching during New York's second five-game winning streak of the season. During this run, Yankees starters have posted a 1.41 ERA, allowing five runs and 28 hits while striking out 24 over 32 innings.

"I felt we didn't really pitch that great as a staff the first couple of months in the season," Pettitte said. "I feel like if you pitch good as a rotation that you're going to be successful. I'm a pitcher and you hate to say it's all pitching, but it's all about pitching. It's all about the rotation and us getting going and throwing the ball the way we need to throw it."

Pettitte's victory came on a night in which the Yankees combined for 14 strikeouts - their most since July 17, 2006 at Tampa Bay. It also marked the first time since May 7-8, 2005 vs. Oakland that New York has posted consecutive shutouts.

Pettitte and the Yankees also were helped by an offense, which scored 27 runs in a three-game sweep of Houston, that finally seems to be rounding into form.

Two batters after Alex Rodriguez opened the scoring in the second inning with a solo homer, Giambi launched a solo shot of his own for a 2-0 lead. The slugger doubled New York's advantage with a two-run blast in a five-run fourth, completing his second two-homer performance of the season 37th career.

After Giambi's 17th home run, the Yankees capitalized on some shoddy defense by the Padres.

With one out and the bases loaded, Derek Jeter hit a grounder to third baseman Edgar Gonzalez, whose throw to second was dropped by Craig Stansberry, allowing Jorge Posada to score an unearned run. After Bobby Abreu's RBI groundout, the Yankees made it 7-0 as Johnny Damon scored on a wild pitch by Randy Wolf.

Jeter added a run-scoring single in the eighth for the Yankees, who have scored 24 unanswered runs since the eighth inning of Saturday's 8-4 triumph over the Astros.

Wolf (5-5) lasted just four innings, allowing seven runs - five earned - and six hits. The southpaw, who walked two and struck out two, saw his winning streak end at three as he surrendered more than three runs for the first time in seven outings.

"His fastball command was just not there tonight, which is part of the reason why his pitch count was so high," Padres manager Bud Black said. "He couldn't find a way to get them down in order."

Recalled from the minors earlier in the day, Chase Headley went 2-for-4 for San Diego, which has lost three of four. Playing in left field, Headley also made one of the Padres' three errors, which marked just their

fourth multi-error game of the season.