New York, NY (WFAN)  -- Andy Pettitte got in trouble several times Tuesday night. He got out of trouble and put the Yankees in position to win the game, which they did. That is the difference between a veteran pitcher and a young pitcher. Call it grit, guile, or guts…whatever you want. What Pettitte brought to the Yankees Tuesday night against Tampa Bay is what the Yankees need Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy to deliver if they are to go far in 2008.

This is not a knock at Hughes and Kennedy. Both appear to be fine young pitchers, but they are young and there is no getting around that. They have to deal with days when they don’t have their best stuff and work on getting wins that way. That’s what separates the mediocre pitchers from the good ones, and the good ones from the great ones.

You think Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, and Greg Maddux had their best stuff every time out? Of course not. True, they had their best stuff more times than not and even their decent stuff was better than most guys best, but they also had times when they had to work through trouble. Those are the days when you have the ability to get knocked out in the 4th or pitch into the 7th, and what you can dig out inside yourself will determine which way you go. So far this year the Yankees are 8-0 in games in which their starter goes at least 6 innings. They are 0-7 when he does not.

What Pettitte did Tuesday night, he probably can’t teach. “Here ya go, Phil & Ian…this is how you do it.” Doesn’t work that way. But hopefully both guys were paying attention. Because those are the games that make the biggest difference in the end, taking games that could very easily be losses…and turning them into wins.

Watching Alex Rodriguez climb over Hall of Famers on the home run list is pretty amazing. Monday night he tied Ted Williams and Willie McCovey for 15th place all-time with 521 career home runs. That’s the number those guys finished with, after long careers that ended more than 20 years after they began. When A-Rod hits another name on the list, it just doesn’t seem right because it’s like he’s a Ferrari in the left lane blowing past you at 140 mph. You just know he’s going to be a long way down that road before he finally runs out of gas. All these guys he’s passing limped to the finish of a Hall of Fame career. This guy is two and a half weeks into a 10-year contract. Amazing.

Not so many e-mails lately about Mariano Rivera being close to the end, about his 3-year contract being a mistake, and how he’s lost a step or two. While we go crazy over the numbers Joba has put up, don’t forget to look at the guy coming in after him.

Rivera has pitched in 6 games, all Yankee wins, and he earned the save in 5 of them. In 6 1/3 innings he has allowed just 3 hits (all singles), walked none, and struck out 7.

One day the Yankees will need to replace their closer, and I feel sorry for the poor guy who has to fill those shoes. My guess is about 400 reporters around his locker after his first blown save---in April.

This is not 1999, and yes, we will go through a “What’s wrong with Mo?” phase again this year, guaranteed. But after the rough April he had last year it’s nice to see him off to a good start and showing Yankee fans he is worth the extra investment…for now anyway :-)

Thanks for reading. Send comments and questions to yankees@wfan.com.

Sweeny