Yankees on Guerrero: What home run?

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Andy Pettitte had a 3-1 lead and was one strike from getting out of the sixth inning Monday when Manager Joe Girardi jogged out to the mound to pay his pitcher and catcher Jorge Posada a visit. At the plate was Vladimir Guerrero, with a strike zone wider than the Grand Canyon. So it was obvious what Girardi’s message was: ‘Don’t throw a strike.’

But moments after Girardi got back to the dugout Pettitte grooved a pitch to Guerrero, who nearly hit it to the Grand Canyon, belting a long two-run home run that changed the complexion of the American League Championship Series. And afterward, everyone had amnesia regarding what exactly happened on the mound.

‘I don’t even know what he said,’ Pettitte claimed. ‘I just know he come out just to ask if we were on the same page as far as what we wanted to throw. He just asked what we were throwing and we told him and then he walked back to the dugout.’

Asked if Girardi brought any suggestions, Posada snapped: ‘I don’t know. Ask him.’

‘We missed location there,’ he added.

Asked where the pitch was supposed to be, Posada ducked.

‘I can’t tell you,’ he said. ‘I really can’t. It wasn’t where it was supposed to be.’

-- Kevin Baxter