Yankees 2, Astros 1: Andy Pettitte secured his 26th career complete game in his final start of his career and Eduardo Nunez scored after catcher Matt Pagnozzi inadvertently threw the ball into the ground as visiting New York extended Houston's winless stretch to a franchise-high 14 contests.
Pettitte (11-11), who is from nearby Deer Park (Texas), pitched in front of his family and friends and became the first pitcher in major-league history with 18 or more seasons without recording a losing record. The 41-year-old allowed one run on five hits and struck out five to post his first complete game since 2006.
Paul Clemens (4-7) breezed into the sixth inning before he sustained a cut on his throwing hand. The 25-year-old continued his outing by allowing a pair of singles - including one by Robinson Cano that tied the game at 1-1.
Clemens departed in favor of Chia-Jen Lo, who issued a four-pitch walk to load the bases. In the next at-bat, Pagnozzi attempted to throw to second in a bid to catch Cano off the base - but instead spiked the ball to allow Nunez to score from third and give New York a 2-1 lead.
Jose Altuve collected two hits and alertly scored from second base on Chris Carter's groundout in the fourth inning. The Astros, who have mustered just 22 runs during their losing skid, became the third team since 1970 to record 110 losses in a season.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Pettitte tied Whitey Ford with his franchise-best 438th start as a member of the Yankees. ... Clemens permitted two runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings. ... The last team to record at least 110 losses in a season was the 2004 Arizona Diamondbacks (111). ... Altuve opened the scoring after bolting for home as New York SS Brendan Ryan elected to throw across his body in a bid to get Carter at first base.
NY Yankees | Houston | |
Andy Pettitte | Player | Paul Clemens |
Win | W/L | Loss |
9.0 | IP | 5.1 |
5 | Strikeouts | 4 |
5 | Hits | 5 |
1.00 | ERA | 1.69 |
NY Yankees | Houston | |
Robinson Cano | Player | Jose Altuve |
2 | Hits | 2 |
1 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
3 | TB | 2 |
.500 | Avg | .500 |
Team | Hits | HR | TB | Avg | LOB | K | RBI | BB | SB | Errors |
NY Yankees | 8 | 0 | 9 | .235 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
Houston | 5 | 0 | 6 | .167 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |