Pettitte, bullpen foil Pittsburgh

Pirates hitters flailed away at an assortment of pitches.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Pittsburgh Pirates didn't give Andy Pettitte nearly as big a fight as his own manager did.
Still cruising after six innings of one-hit pitching, Pettitte all but pleaded with manager Jimy Williams to keep him in the scoreless game. His left elbow was fine, Pettitte argued, and he wasn't laboring at all.
Williams was sympathetic, but didn't give in.
Not with his $31.5 million pitcher coming off a three-week layoff with a strained left elbow, and the Astros determined to keep him on a 75-pitch count.
"He felt strong enough to keep going, but we stayed with our game plan," Williams said.
"Whether it was going to work or not, we didn't know. It took a few weeks to get him back, and we didn't want to get too giddy."
Right decision
Williams' decision was as sound as Pettitte's pitching. Houston's bullpen followed with three shutout innings, and Pettitte was rewarded with his first NL victory when the Astros scored twice in the seventh to beat the Pirates 2-0 Thursday.
Pettitte pitched so well in his first victory for his hometown team and the 150th of his career, he didn't mind losing his case to Williams.
"I almost talked them into it," Pettitte said. "After missing as much time as I did, to go six innings was good. There's no sense pushing it, especially with the great bullpen we've got."
Dan Miceli, Brad Lidge and Octavio Dotel followed Pettitte with a scoreless inning each to complete the two-hit shutout. Dotel struck out the side in the ninth for his third save in three chances.
Pettitte was effective and efficient, rarely going deep into a count while permitting only two base runners. Raul Mondesi, a New York Yankees teammate last year, walked in the first and singled in the fourth.
It was far better than Pettitte's Houston debut April 6, when he allowed 11 hits and six runs in 51/3 innings while losing 7-5 to San Francisco.
Even worse, he hurt his elbow on a checked swing and hadn't been able to pitch since.
Thursday's outing was classic Pettitte, with the Pirates hitters flailing away at his assortment of breaking balls and cut fastballs pitches after falling behind in the count.
Reality TV
"This was like watching him pitch on TV during the World Series," Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson said. "He's moving the ball around, throwing strikes. He knew what he wanted to do and he did it."
He won this one partly because Pirates starter Kip Wells (2-3) faded after six shutout innings. Lance Berkman singled and Richard Hidalgo doubled to start the seventh, and Mike Lamb walked to load the bases.
Wells thought he struck out Brad Ausmus looking at a 2-2 pitch, but didn't get the call.
Ausmus then hit a tie-breaking sacrifice fly, and pinch-hitter Jose Vizcaino's RBI single off reliever John Grabow made it 2-0.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.