HOUSTON – Had somebody been dumb enough to ask Mike Mussina in spring training about his chances of reaching double digits in wins by the middle of June and getting strong consideration for an All-Star Game jersey, he might have delivered a half-smile and waved the notion off.
“I would have said it was not realistic,” Mussina said.
Now, after helping the Yankees beat the Astros, 8-4, last night in front of 43,409 at Minute Maid Park, Mussina is 10-4, has won nine of 10 and has a very good chance to represent the Yankees in the final All Star Game at Yankee Stadium next month.
“I wouldn’t have any,” Joe Girardi said when asked if he had reservations about recommending the 39-year-old antique to AL skipper Terry Francona. “For what he has done for us . . .”
When camp opened the Yankees were concerned about Mussina’s decline in velocity. And after four starts he was 1-3 with a 5.75 ERA, had been spanked twice by the Red Sox. Voices wondered how Mussina was going to take being banished to long relief.
Now, he is tied with Cleveland’s Cliff Lee for wins among AL pitchers and nobody is concerned the fastball is pedestrian at best.
“I am much better than last year,”‘ Mussina said of the 11-10 record and 5.15 ERA of a year ago. “I go about it differently than in the past but I am not different. I am not taller and I don’t throw left-handed. I am making good pitches and mixing it up.”
For years, his cut fastball moved away from right-handed hitters. Now it dives into them. He always had a big breaking ball, now there are variations on the speed. Last night he used a back-door slider clocked at 83 mph to catch Lance Berkman looking at a third strike with a runner on second and one out in the sixth with the Yankees leading 5-3.
“I decided to go in on the first at-bat,” Mussina said of Berkman in the first inning when he singled and scored on Carlos Lee’s three-run homer. “I was trying to go back door and I got it in a good spot.”
Since the 1-3 start, Mussina has been in almost perfect position. Last night marked the 17th time he has won at least 10 games and it was his 260th career win. That ties him with Ted Lyons for 38th place on the all-time victory list.
Not bad for a pitcher who was supposed to be passed up by Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, who first were ineffective and then injured.
In six innings Mussina gave up three runs – all in the first on Lee’s three-run homer and six hits.
The Yankees’ eighth win in 11 games hiked their record to 36-33. It’s the first time they are three games over .500 this season.
Ross Ohlendorf, Kyle Farnsworth and Edwar Ramirez recorded the final nine outs.
Alex Rodriguez homered and Melky Cabrera, Jose Molina and Wilson Betemit drove in two runs for the winners who remained six games behind the front-running Red Sox in the AL East.
In a pinch-hitting appearance, the slumping Robinson Cano (0-for-17) delivered an RBI single in the eighth that upped the Yankees’ lead to 6-4.
Betemit, who entered the game as a defensive replacement at first, doubled home two in the ninth. That stretched the lead to 8-4 and kept Mariano Rivera out of the game for a second straight night after he worked five of six.
Asked about facing Astros stud Roy Oswalt today, Johnny Damon (3-for-5) said, “We have our best man (Chien-Ming Wang) going.”
Damon was wrong. Ten wins by June make Mussina the Yankees best man.