Twenty-five years ago today, Andy Pettitte took the mound for the Yankees in search of his 100th career win. Obviously, the 100-win mark is hardly as prestigious as the famous 300-win club, but in order to reach 100, you generally have to have both been around for a while and been a pretty good pitcher — both of which did and would continue to apply to Pettitte.

That being said in the moment, the 2000 Yankees were in a pretty bad slump, having only broken a six-game losing streak the day prior. Pettitte had been sitting on 99 wins for over two full weeks at this point. While the Yankees’ late-season struggles would continue (this would turn out to be their final regular-season victory of the year despite there still being another week of play), they at least got to help their 28-year-old southpaw achieve a notable milestone on this day.

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September 24: Yankees 6, Tigers 3 (box score)

Record: 87-67 (5.5 GA in AL East)

Facing young righty Jeff Weaver, the Bombers jumped on the future Yankee early. New York got a bit unlucky in the first inning when Chuck Knoblauch led off by singling and stealing second, only to get doubled off when Detroit shortstop Deivi Cruz caught a Derek Jeter liner. However, the offense did strike in the following inning. Bernie Williams led off the bottom of the second with a home run. Then two batters later, with Jorge Posada on after a single, Tino Martinez added another homer to extend the lead.

Meanwhile, Pettitte got the start for the Yankees and opened the game by retiring the first eight Tigers hitters. Shane Halter broke that run with a walk and José Macias followed that by hitting a ball to deep left field. David Justice misplayed the fly ball, letting it hit off the wall and then ricochet past him back towards shallower left field. Halter motored all the way around and was sent home, but did fall after rounding third. The Yankees might’ve had a shot to throw him out, but Scott Brosius seemingly missed the incident and attempted to tag Macias out instead of throwing home. Despite falling, Halter did score to get the Tigers on the board.

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Over the next couple innings, the Tigers did threaten a bit against Pettitte, but he did manage to continually get out of jams. That included one of his signature pickoffs to get Dusty Allen out after he had led off the fifth with a walk.

After the three-run inning, the Yankees’ offense had also stalled a bit against Weaver, but the pitcher did help them out in the sixth. The Yankees had two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth after Derek Jeter and Justice singles and a Posada walk. With Martinez at the plate, Weaver uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Jeter to scamper home.

That run ended up being quite important, especially for Pettitte and his quest for the milestone. In the top of the seventh, Pettitte got two outs, but allowed singles to Cruz and Allen in the process. This time it was Halter’s turn to hit a triple, as he drove a liner to deep right-center field. That three-bagger drove home two and got the Tigers back within a run. However, Pettitte got Macias to ground out to end the inning to preserve the lead. Pettitte came back out to start the eighth, and allowed a single before getting the first out of the inning. At that point, manager Joe Torre went to the bullpen, and Jeff Nelson came in and finished off the frame.

In the eighth inning, the Yankees’ offense gave the bullpen some breathing room. Martinez struck yet again, as he slugged a two-run homer that came following a Posada double. Not as notable as Pettitte’s feat, but it was also an important performance for Tino, as well. His two-hit, four-RBI performance helped him break out of a 1-for-33 slump. In the end, Mariano Rivera came in for the ninth and got three quick outs to seal the victory.

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Thanks to that, Pettitte had recorded his 100th career major league victory of what would be a career total of 256. The Yankees led the AL East by 5.5 games with seven to go, but it would remain an utter slog to clinch as their awful September stumbled on.

Read the full 2000 Yankees Diary series here.