Mike Mussina was his own worst critic after losing to the Red Sox last Tuesday night, but the right-hander found some positive things in his performance yesterday.
“I felt good about where the ball was going and I could get almost all my pitches over anytime I wanted to,” Mussina said after the Yankees’ 4-3 loss to the Angels. “It makes it easier to pitch. You feel like you have a few more weapons to use.”
Mussina, who received a no-decision after allowing two runs over 61/3 innings, said it was the sharpest outing of his five since returning from the disabled list.
Against the Red Sox, he allowed seven earned runs over 62/3 innings, and he called his recent work “depressing, disappointing, frustrating.”
Still, Mussina, could only watch in frustration yesterday as Scott Proctor allowed a double and three walks in the seventh, giving the Angels a 4-2 lead.
Mussina, who had thrown 95 pitches, had no problem with Joe Torre’s decision to make a change after Casey Kotchman walked with one out and the Yankees leading, 2-1.
“If they leave me in there and I give up another hit or another two hits, then you get second-guessed for that,” Mussina said.
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Melky Cabrera made a second straight start in center field, with Johnny Damon again relegated to bench duty. Damon, bothered by sore calf muscles, made a pinch-hitting appearance in the ninth and grounded out against Francisco Rodriguez.
Torre said Damon likely would return to the lineup tonight in Toronto as the DH. Jason Giambi, mired in a 4-for-24 (.167) slump, certainly doesn’t have a hold on the spot.
Giambi said he’d consider a cortisone shot if his aching left foot does not improve.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to make it better,” Giambi said.
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GM Brian Cashman said the team is still reviewing an MRI taken of pitcher Phil Hughes‘ left ankle. Hughes sprained the ankle during drills in Tampa on Friday . . . Backup catcher Wil Nieves went 2-for-2, recording his first two-hit game since Aug. 2, 2002 with San Diego, against Cincinnati. Nieves’ two RBIs yesterday were a career high . . . The Angels are 65-57 against the Yankees since the start of the 1995 season, the best record among AL clubs against the Yankees during that stretch . . . Robinson Cano‘s fourth-inning double gave him an 11-game hitting streak.