TAMPA, Fla. -- Andy Pettitte bounded off the mound, raced to the bag and, after accepting a flip from first baseman Don Mattingly, recorded the putout.
It was a scene straight out of 1995, as Pettitte threw 65 pitches at Legends Field on Monday, substituting for his third start of the spring.
With Andy Phillips notching nine at-bats against Pettitte, Mattingly -- now the Yankees' bench coach, and the team's regular first baseman when Pettitte broke into the Majors -- filled in at first base and showed he can still pick it at age 45.
"That was definitely funny," Pettitte said. "He gave me a bad break on a ground ball to first. His reaction time is not real good. I just told him, 'Dude, don't get hit, whatever you do.' I'd feel terrible if he took a bad hop."
With Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter making up the left side of the infield and Minor Leaguer Kevin Russo manning second base, Pettitte teamed with catcher Jorge Posada to work four simulated innings against a rotation of Phillips and Minor Leaguers Cody Ehlers and Justin Christian.
By pitching in the afternoon workout, Pettitte was spared the lengthy bus ride to Fort Myers, Fla., where the Yankees are scheduled to take on the Red Sox on Monday in their only spring meeting.
It has been suggested that the logic behind the maneuver was to disallow Boston an advance look at Pettitte, who is returning to the American League after three seasons with the Astros. Pettitte said skipping the bus ride wasn't his idea, though he also wasn't complaining.
"That wasn't my theory," Pettitte said. "The Red Sox know what I throw. I guess they're taking care of a guy that's got a little bit of [Major League] time in. There's a lot of road trips I'll be taking this Spring Training, so they let me stay here for one of them."
Pettitte said his left ring finger felt no ill effects from his start on Wednesday against the Reds, when he was nicked by a sliver of a broken bat, drawing blood. Pettitte stayed in that game and completed a 49-pitch outing, but he said that he felt a difference on Monday.
"I think my command was maybe a little affected when I stayed in the game," Pettitte said. "It's normal because my finger was a little numb. I was controlling the ball a lot better [Monday] than I did in that Reds start."
Pettitte recorded two strikeouts, walked none and allowed four hits in Monday's simulation, throwing 38 pitches for strikes.
"His stuff was pretty good," Phillips said. "We talked about it. He had some life on his fastball today, and his breaking ball was sharp. He made some adjustments with his changeup. He looked pretty good to me."
Throwing a few cutters now that his arm strength is increasing, Pettitte allowed two runs in the four innings -- run-scoring hits by Christian and Phillips -- but those numbers are not completely accurate because the Yankees put extra runners on base without hits, forcing Pettitte to work from the stretch.
"For a simulated game, I felt good," Pettitte said. "Mechanically, I felt real good. I got some good fatigue in my shoulder and worked it good.
"Everything was good today. I feel like I'm getting stronger. It's Spring Training, you know? It's time to get my endurance up."
