NEW YORK -- Andy Pettitte was so disappointed in the way he contributed to the New York Yankees' unsightly 9-1 loss to the Houston Astros on Monday that he said he felt "sick to my stomach." Catcher Austin Romine spoke in a whisper and a half about needing to have better communication with Pettitte so that the pitcher could establish a rhythm. The clubhouse emptied in a few minutes on a forgettable night for the Yankees.

But, hidden beneath the debris of the worst loss of the season, there was one Yankee that didn't consider it a forgettable night. For Vidal Nuno, the ugly defeat was a memorable night because he made his Major League debut and pitched three scoreless innings. Nuno was surely the only Yankee that saved a baseball from the game.

"Never thought I would be here," said Nuno.

Actually,

TAMPA - One year ago, Andy Pettitte came to Spring Training as a guest instructor. As Pettitte stood near the first base dugout at Steinbrenner Field and discussed his new role, he looked as athletic as ever. Pettitte looked like someone who could still pitch. Soon, very soon, we all learned that he could.

That gig as an instructor didn't last too long for Pettitte. He came out of retirement about three weeks later to pitch for the Yankees and he is back again in 2013. When Pettitte pitched in 2012, which was only for 75 1/3 innings because of a broken fibula, he was very good. This season, Pettitte expects to be just as reliable.

For Pettitte, being a 40-year old pitcher trumps being a 30-year old pitcher since he suggested that he is a better pitcher than he was a decade ago. Pettitte,

When Andy Pettitte was six years old, he cried after a flag football game because he couldn’t understand why his teammates were so casual. Pettitte wanted to win. They wanted to play. The boy that wept in the backseat of his father’s white Plymouth developed into the determined pitcher who always wants to win, too.

As Pettitte tossed six scoreless innings in a much-needed 6-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday night, the image of him as a feisty six-year old flashed into my head. Pettitte has always been a tenacious competitor, a pitcher who scolds himself on the mound after poor results and a pitcher who has fashioned a superb career out of dodging dangerous situations.

The familiar sight of Pettitte allowing baserunners and stranding those baserunners played out

Andy Pettitte has 240 wins in the Major Leagues, has won another 19 post-season games and also owns five World Series rings. At this point in Pettitte’s glorious career, it would seem that nothing could cause him to react too emotionally. He’s been there and he’s done that. Right? Guess again.

After General Manager Brian Cashman announced that Pettitte would rejoin the Yankees and start on Sunday against the Mariners, Pettitte was elated. When I texted Pettitte and asked him about returning to the mound, Pettitte, who didn’t pitch in 2010, explained that he was thrilled.   

“Words can’t even describe how excited I am to get back,” Pettitte said. “Ready to get back to the grind of the big league season and going through that

TAMPA – Andy Pettitte has ended his retirement to sign a 1-year, minor league contract with the Yankees that will pay him $2.5 million. Less than three weeks after Pettitte visited spring training as a guest instructor here, the 39-year old will soon rejoin the team as an experienced left-handed starter.

The Yankees needed starters last season and had hoped Pettitte would pitch for them, but he retired after going 11-3 with a 3.28 earned run average in 2010 and stayed retired. But the Yankees have always communicated to Pettitte that they would be interested in re-signing him if he ever wanted to rekindle his career. That is exactly what Pettitte wants to do.

When Pettitte visited here in late February, I asked him if being around some of his former teammates gave him an itch to

Andy Pettitte will announce his retirement on Friday, finally answering a question that has hovered over the Yankees during the offseason. The Yankees had hoped that Pettitte would return in 2011 to stabilize their starting rotation, but Pettitte has apparently decided to end his 16-year career so that he could spend more time with his family.

Pettitte traveled to Yankee Stadium on Thursday to meet with Yankee executives, which is his way of offering an official good-bye. The Yankees had known for more than 24 hours that Pettitte was about to retire. While there was a remote chance that Pettitte could have changed his mind before the meeting, team officials didn’t think that would happen and it didn’t. The press conference will be at 10:30 a.m. and will be televised by the YES

Marcus Thames has faced Cliff Lee 36 times in his career. By Sunday afternoon, Thames had analyzed the videotape of every one of those at-bats, searching for some clues about how to hit the supposedly unhittable postseason pitcher.

Thames studied the pitches he missed, the pitches he fouled off and the pitches he didn’t swing at, rewinding and fast-forwarding through his dates with Lee. Eventually, Thames discovered a pattern, a sliver of information that he hopes will help him in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night.

“In every at-bat I had, I usually had one pitch to hit,” Thames said. “Even in the at-bats where I struck out against him, I had a pitch and missed it. You can’t miss that pitch.”

Thames has seven hits, including