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Pettitte takes mound for Yankees vs. Royals

Apr 9, 2009 - 11:49 PM By Justin Einhorn Stats Senior Editor

NY Yankees (1-2) Kansas City (2-1) 4:10 p.m. EDT

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (AP) -- This offseason wasn't nearly as trying as last year's for Andy Pettitte, though it was still fairly turbulent. At least a breakout game by the New York Yankees may have taken some pressure off his season debut.

Pettitte might get Yankees fans to further forget about his negative publicity and dreadful finish to last season - as well as the team's poor start - by helping spoil the Kansas City Royals' reopening of Kauffman Stadium on Friday.

New York (1-2) gave up 17 runs and 23 hits in starting the season with back-to-back losses to Baltimore, a team widely expected to post its 12th consecutive losing season. The Yankees avoided the sweep with an 11-2 victory Wednesday, as Nick Swisher had a homer with five RBIs while fellow newcomer Mark Teixeira added two hits and his first home run.

"It's good to get the win, especially after the way the first couple games had gone," Swisher said after going 3-for-5 in his first start for New York.

"We have a lot of guys getting it going at the plate and the energy level is high."

While much of the offseason spotlight in the Bronx was on Alex Rodriguez and the high-priced signings of Teixeira, CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett - Wednesday's winning pitcher - it was squarely on Pettitte as the 2008 season approached. He was named in the Mitchell Report and admitted to using human growth hormone.

Pettitte (14-14, 4.54 ERA) couldn't escape more adverse attention this offseason, though it wasn't nearly as severe. Federal prosecutors interviewed him in February as part of the Roger Clemens steroid case. That came after a contract negotiation in which he refused the Yankees' one-year offer worth $10 million - a $6 million paycut - though he later accepted $5.5 million with another potential $6.5 million in bonuses.

"It was kind of a little bit of a running joke with some of my friends there, saying that I was going to pay the Yankees to come back," the 36-year-old Pettitte said.

A big reason he was offered less money was his poor close to last season. Pettitte went 2-7 with a 6.23 ERA in his final 11 starts, partly blaming a shoulder problem.

However, the left-hander looked healthy in four starts during spring training as he went 3-0 with a 1.17 ERA.

Pettitte, who is 7-0 in 11 starts against Kansas City since a loss August 18, 1999, will be opposed by a pitcher who also was part of the Yankees' rotation last season.

Sidney Ponson (8-5, 5.04) joined the Royals (2-1) last month after ending 2008 with New York, going 4-4 with a 5.85 ERA in 16 games following his release from Texas in June.

This is the seventh team in seven years for the right-hander, whose two solid starts with the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic may have convinced Kansas City to sign the free agent. In two spring starts for the Royals, though, he was 0-1 with a 9.58 ERA.

Ponson is 6-13 with a 4.89 ERA in 28 career games versus the Yankees, though he's faced them only once since 2005.

He'll face a big challenge right out of the gate. The three Yankees with the best batting averages against Ponson are the top three in their lineup - Derek Jeter has hit .377 (29-for-77) with five homers, Johnny Damon has batted .346 (18-for-52) and Teixeira .533 (8-for-15).

Another newcomer keyed the Royals' win Wednesday, as Coco Crisp's two-run homer in the ninth gave them a 2-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

"My first home run with the Royals in a key situation, it was nice," said Crisp, who went a club-best 4-for-11 (.364) with two doubles in the season-opening three-game series.

The Royals offense has started slowly overall, scoring two runs in each game while batting .214 with 31 strikeouts. Cleanup man Jose Guillen is 1-for-12, designated hitter Billy Butler is 0-for-11 and offseason acquisition Mike Jacobs is 0-for-7.

These teams split 10 games last season - the Royals won two of the three at Kauffman Stadium.

Kansas City is looking to win its first game there following the completion a $250-million renovation that took two years.