When Alex Rodriguez slugged a two-run homer in the seventh inning on Saturday to spark a rally, starter Andy Pettitte didn't jump up from the dugout with the rest of his teammates. He didn't even see it.

Instead, he was sitting in the clubhouse in the cold tank, too upset with his own performance to watch the rest of the game. Pettitte (5-5) gave up 10 hits -- including a grand slam to Jose Guillen -- and 10 runs to the Royals in 6 2/3 innings before Johnny Damon drove in a run in the bottom of the ninth to give New York the comeback 12-11 win.

Prior to the game, manager Joe Girardi said that Pettitte is an emotional player who doesn't hide how he feels, and the lefty echoed the comments after Saturday's contest.

"I'm going to be frustrated, and it's not going to be a secret," Pettitte said. "If I don't get the job done, if I don't give us a quality start, if I don't pitch into the seventh inning or so, I'm going to be upset with the way I'm pitching."

Pettitte gave up five runs through the first three innings, but he seemed to settle down, retiring the next nine batters. And despite Pettitte's rocky start to the seventh inning, Girardi left him in to face Guillen, who had already hit him for a homer and a single.

"I decided it was his game," Girardi said.

The left-hander's elevated fastball to Guillen was his final pitch.

After being told that the Yankees had tied the score at 10 in the eighth inning, Pettitte started watching in time to see Damon's game-winning RBI single, and the veteran could breathe a small sigh of relief.

"Just makes it a lot easier to swallow that it was a win," he said. "That makes everything a lot better, that's for sure."

But those 10 hits and 10 earned runs allowed -- both of which matched career highs -- only furthered his frustration with his recent struggles on the mound. Physically, he feels good, but something else just hasn't been quite right lately.

In his previous start, at Minnesota on June 2, Pettitte gave up a lead three times and exited the game before the Twins handed the Yankees a 6-5 loss.

"From my end, it was just another disappointing day," he said. "I don't know what else to say, other than I'm just not making my pitches when I need to.

"It's just that right now, anything that can go wrong and make my life miserable right now on the baseball field is going wrong."
The Official Site of The New York Yankees: News: Pettitte frustrated with performance

the offense saved his ass from another loss.