Pettitte barely escapes injury after barehanding ball

Scott Hairston was hard on Andy Pettitte all afternoon, but it's safe to say Hairston's double to lead off the Mets' three-run second inning and his single in the third didn't hurt the Yankees' starting pitcher nearly as much as the comeback shot he banged to lead off the sixth. Pettitte instinctively threw up his bare left hand to field the ball on one hop and throw Hairston out.

You could almost feel 49,010 people in the Yankee Stadium stands cringe in pain along with him. But Pettitte somehow shook it off to get out of the inning by striking out Lucas Duda and getting Vinny Rottino on a fly ball to the wall in right.

Pettitte trailed 3-0 when he left after six innings of five-hit pitching with eight strikeouts, but he escaped with a no-decision when the Yankees pulled out a 5-4 victory. Although Pettitte's pitching hand was wrapped tightly with an elastic bandage after the game, he doesn't expect to miss his next start Friday in Washington thanks to a schedule that affords him an extra day's rest.

"I'm good," Pettitte said. "As soon as the swelling gets out, it'll be fine. It got me right up high on the hand toward my fingers. It was just hard to throw. It swelled up immediately, and I just had a hard time feeling the ball in my hand."

Joe Girardi visited the mound but took Pettitte's word that he could continue after a minute or two to let the pain subside.

"I probably should have come out," Pettitte said. "I mean, I didn't have any feel. I was very fortunate to be able to get out of that inning."

Pettitte faulted himself for making the play rather than letting second baseman Robinson Cano handle it, but it was one of those things that happen so quickly, there's no time to think before the body reacts. It was just one of the ways Pettitte kept it close. He also picked off Hairston in the third and David Wright, who was running with the pitch, to end the fifth, with both scored as caught stealing.

Pettitte (3-2, 2.81 ERA) struggled in the second inning, throwing 36 pitches and facing nine batters. Hairston led off with a double and scored on Rottino's one-out single. Pettitte then walked Omar Quintanilla, and both runners scored on Jordany Valdespin's ground-ball double over first base. But he struck out Jason Bay and David Wright to leave the bases loaded.

"I felt a tick off early, the first inning or two," Pettitte said. "It was like I wasn't quite getting the ball where I wanted to. After that, I felt like I've been feeling. I felt my command was really good."

On Valdespin's hit, Pettitte added: "I wasn't even trying to throw the ball for a strike. I was trying to throw a ball up and in to him to get him off the plate. That was extremely frustrating."

Pettitte expects to throw his normal bullpen session Wednesday.

"I believe the swelling will get out of there quick," he said, "and I'll be good to go."