Phil Garner Andy Quotations

Lost in all that was Andy pitched seven shutout innings.

I knew we weren't a 15-under-.500 team. When the season started, I thought we were probably five games over .500. Then, if we got a little bit lucky, I thought we could be 10 games over. I think we're fortunate to be 14 over .500 because we didn't figure on Andy Pettitte (17-9, 2.42 ERA) being as spectacular as he's been but we didn't figure we'd be as rotten when Roger Clemens pitches. Go figure.

I think Andy is probably the key figure here in making all this happen.

He personifies what we've been talking about, with determination, guts, the will to win and the tough part. When you look at Andy or talk to him, he's got such a happy face and such a happy demeanor it belies how tough he is.

I'm a resident of Houston, and I was unemployed at the time, when they were talking about bringing Andy back,

Actually, we're blessed to have two No. 1 starters. Even before I got here, I always considered Andy Pettitte particularly special. Certainly he deserves it, too.

Andy pitched very well. He's actually pitched with more velocity than he had tonight, and a little bit better control, but he's pitched well the whole year.

He just didn't locate like we're accustomed to seeing him locate. But I think that will be forthcoming. It was good for Andy to bounce back after his last outing.

We are a different club and we are probably not as offensively as potent as we were last year. We certainly don't have the possibility to break a game open with the long balls like we did last year. We're a little bit younger in our offense, but somehow we found a way. Our pitching is more solid than it was last year from top to bottom. Our bullpen has been good on the balance of the year and having Andy Pettitte healthy has helped our rotation quite a bit. We are probably a little stronger in the pitching department and probably a little weaker in the offense department.

I think Rocket and Andy really like being on the big stage. They sort of feed off that a little bit. Roy doesn't shy down from it at all, but his personality is just much more low-key.