One night after The Future fizzled, The Past grabbed the title of staff ace and The Present moved past Mickey Mantle on the all-time Yankees hit list.
Following Joba Chamberlain’s early flameout in his first major league start, the Yankees turned to Mike Mussina last night and begged him to end a three-game slide. Mussina cooperated by delivering his best effort of the season and pitched the Yankees to a 5-1 victory over the Blue Jays in front of 51,151 at Yankee Stadium.
Jorge Returns, Shoulder Will Linger
It was fitting that Derek Jeter‘s RBI single – the 2,416th of his career – in the third provided the game’s first run since it moved him past Mickey Mantle into third place on the list that has Babe Ruth (2,518) and Lou Gehrig (2,721) ahead of him.
Jeter looks at the names and finds it hard to fathom his position.
“It’s always cool to start talking about those names. My name doesn’t fit up there,” said Jeter, who reluctantly doffed his helmet to acknowledge the standing ovation he received from the crowd. “You don’t want to show anybody up.”
“Tonight was as good as I have seen him,” Jeter said of the 39-year-old Mussina, who at 9-4 is tied for the AL lead in wins and is primed to be an All-Star and on pace to win 20 games for the first time in his 18-year career. It also marked 259th career win.
Working with the handicap known as C.B. Bucknor behind the plate, Mussina kept the Blue Jays off balance with curveballs and well-spotted fastballs. Had Bucknor rightfully called a 1-2 pitch to Scott Rolen a strike in the sixth inning, Mussina would have not allowed a run.
“A lot of people assumed my best stuff was behind me,” said Mussina, who went 11-10 with a 5.15 ERA last year and prompted concerns in spring about a severe lack of velocity. “Granted, I don’t throw 90 mph anymore, but I still know how to pitch. Except for a game here and there, I can’t complain about anything.”
In six innings Mussina allowed a run and five hits and posted his third straight victory. No longer can Mussina do it alone. He needed three relievers for the final nine outs and the Yankees hitting in the clutch to secure the victory.
Wilson Betemit homered and Robinson Cano dou bled in a run in the fourth. Johnny Damon (3-for-4) contributed an RBI single in the sixth and Hideki Mat sui, who started the night leading the AL batting race with a .332 average, drove in a run in the seventh with his second single.
Yet, the story was Mussina. He is in the final season of a two-year, $23 million deal and making a case to be an All-Star.
“I don’t think about July, let somebody else do that,” Mussina said.
If Mussina, rebounding from a pedestrian 2007 that was hampered by leg problems, keeps it up, he will land his sixth All-Star nod and first since 1999 when he was an Oriole.
Yankees 5 Blue Jays 1