Pettitte's next start a bit up in the air

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Yankees could have their pick of three locations for Andy Pettitte's next rehab outing.

Or they could have none.

The hope is for Pettitte to pitch Tuesday with one of the Yankees' minor-league affiliates that qualified for the postseason - either Class A Tampa, Double-A Trenton or Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Trenton, where Pettitte started Thursday, is the least likely; the Thunder completed a sweep of New Hampshire on Friday night and will be on the road Tuesday. If they advance that far, Tampa and Scranton each will be at home Tuesday, with Tampa playing the deciding game of its championship series.

Given that Pettitte is scheduled to rejoin the Yankees here Saturday and presumably will travel to St. Petersburg, Fla., for the series against the Rays, starting for Tampa might make the most sense geographically.

If there are no games to pick from, Joe Girardi said he's leaning toward Pettitte - who next will throw 80 pitches or five innings - pitching a simulated game rather than in the majors. While acknowledging "that could change," Girardi said it's not likely. "I would like to get his pitch count up a little bit more and have him feel more comfortable," he said.

If Pettitte makes a start Tuesday, the plan, Girardi said, is to bring him back to the Yankees' rotation five days later to keep him on schedule.

Hughes in pen for one night

Phil Hughes, skipped from his start this weekend, was available out of the bullpen for one inning Friday; he pitched a scoreless ninth to preserve a 5-5 tie. "The one thing is, you think about a guy facing hitters on a regular basis," Girardi said. "And if he doesn't, he won't face hitters for like nine or 10 days, and that's a little bit of a concern of mine. It's not a huge concern of mine because he's done it before, but it might be a situation where you bring him in just for an inning.''

Hughes is scheduled to start Wednesday against the Rays.

Playoff preview?

Though aware that the Yankees would face the Rangers if the playoffs started today, Girardi isn't making too much of this series from that standpoint. "We obviously know we could possibly face them down the road, but I think you still need to treat these like three regular-season games," he said. "You might have people paying more attention to the little things they do, but I don't think you can get caught up saying, this is who we could possibly play in the first round, because we could possibly play somebody else."