Pettitte loses 1st ’08 start

The rest of the day just didn’t go as planned.

Jonny Gomes homered and drove in four runs against Pettitte to atone for two blunders, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 6-3 on Saturday.

‘I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it was great and (I’m) much appreciative,’ Pettitte said of the welcome he got from the crowd of 52,247. ‘I wish I could’ve given them a better performance than that.’

Pettitte was on a shorter-than-normal pitch count after he opened the season on the disabled list with back spasms. He lasted just five innings and was outpitched by Edwin Jackson, who held the powerful Yankees lineup in check.

‘He had a really good slider today, mixed in the changeup,’ Rays manager Joe Maddon said of Jackson. ‘He’s one of those guys, once he gets in the flow of the game he can be very tough.’

It was Pettitte’s first regular-season start since he admitted using human growth hormone and accused buddy and former teammate Roger Clemens of also using HGH.

New York was again without Joe Girardi, who missed his second straight game with an upper respiratory infection. The first-year Yankees manager was at the ballpark and bench coach Rob Thomson said about 21’2 hours before the game that he thought Girardi would be back in the dugout.

But the club announced right before the first pitch that Thomson would manage the team for the second straight day.

‘Yesterday I had a 103 (degree) temperature,’ Girardi said. ‘I think I’ll be all right tomorrow.’