Mussina Comes Alive

We doubt he'll have the success Peter Frampton had in 1976, but Mike Mussina (1-1) threw 6 innings of excellent ball tonight as the Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1. In getting their most offensive production of the season, the Yankees won their second straight and managed to split the four game series with the Rays. The lone drawback was an apparent strained quad by Derek Jeter, who left the game after grounding out in the 1st inning.

The big story in this game though was Mussina, who had struggled in his first start of the season against the Toronto Blue Jays. This time though Musssina was on target with all of his off-speed stuff and placed his fastball well. He threw 82 pitches in allowing just 2 hits, a walk, and struck out 3.

The Yankees needed Moose to be sharp, because their bats were asleep again, this time against Rays starter Jason Hammel (0-1). The right-hander was making his first appearance of the season and the Yankees had managed just 2 runs- a laser hit home run by Bobby Abreu in the 1st inning- through the first 5 innings. Meantime the Rays had the cut Yankees lead in half on Jonny Gomes 3rd inning home run.

But Abreu kick started things in the 6th, nearly hitting his second home run, before pulling into 3rd with a lead off triple. Alex Rodriguez followed with an RBI single and Hideki Matsui followed with a hit and run double down the left field line that scored A-Rod from 1st.

The Yankees put two more men on with one out in the 7th on a single by Jeter's replacement, Morgan Ensberg, and walk to Abreu. The right fielder finished a double shy of the cycle for the evening. A-Rod struck out, but Matsui and Robinson Cano delivered 2-out RBI singles to break the game open.

Brian Bruney, Kyle Farnsworth, and LaTroy Hawkins finished up as the Yankees moved back above .500 at 4-3.

News and Notes

No further word out of the clubhouse on Jeter. But in this case no news may not be good news. There's been no, "I'll be in there tomorrow" statement. With an afternoon start in Kansas City, Joe Girardi will most likely sit him no matter what. With Jeter and Giambi's injuries and Shelley Duncan serving a one game suspension, Jorge Posada was the only position player left on the bench after the 1st inning.

Poor LaTroy Hawkins, just can't get a break. Fans, still upset at his choice of wearing #21, began chanting Paul O'Neill as they did in Game 5 of the 2001 World Series. Hawkins was loudly booed after allowing 2 Rays to reach in the 9th, causing Mariano Rivera to start getting loosened up. Hawkins struck out Gomes to end it and all was forgiven. Note to fans - give it up already. I love Paul O'Neill as much as anyone, but you sound like idiots.

Joe Girardi's daughter caught his bug and had a 104 degree fever, but is doing much better.

Mike Mussina's victory was the 251st of his career, tying him with Bob Gibson for 42nd place all-time. His three strikeouts gave him 2,668, tying him with David Cone for the 21st spot on the career list.

Tampa Bay	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Iwamura, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	1	1	.192
Crawford, LF	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	.148
Pena, 1B	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.227
Upton, CF	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	.227
Hinske, RF	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	.308
Aybar, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	.188
Gomes, DH	4	1	1	1	0	2	3	.375
DiFelice, C	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	.333
Bartlett, SS	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	.190
Totals	31	1	3	1	2	5	11
BATTING 2B: DiFelice (1, Mussina). HR: Gomes (2, 3rd inning off Mussina, 0 on, 0 out). TB: Pena; Gomes 4; DiFelice 2. RBI: Gomes (5). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Crawford; Bartlett; Gomes 2. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: Bartlett (1, 2nd base off Mussina/Molina).

Tampa Bay	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Hammel (L, 0-1)	6.0	8	4	4	1	2	1	6.00
Dohmann	1.0	3	2	2	1	2	0	7.71
Glover	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	5	0	2	0	0	0	1	.185
Jeter, SS	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.208
Ensberg, 1B	3	1	1	0	0	0	2	.250
Abreu, RF	3	3	3	2	1	0	0	.400
Rodriguez, 3B	4	1	1	1	0	1	4	.320
Matsui, DH	4	0	2	2	0	0	0	.375
Cano, 2B	4	0	1	1	0	0	1	.185
Betemit, 1B-SS	4	0	0	0	0	3	3	.111
Cabrera, CF	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	.286
Molina, C	4	0	1	0	0	1	2	.308
Totals	35	6	11	6	2	5	14
BATTING 2B: Molina (2, Hammel), Matsui (1, Hammel). 3B: Abreu (1, Hammel). HR: Abreu (1, 1st inning off Hammel, 1 on, 1 out). TB: Damon 2; Ensberg; Abreu 8; Rodriguez; Matsui 3; Cano; Molina 2. RBI: Abreu 2 (4), Rodriguez (5), Matsui 2 (6), Cano (1). 2-out RBI: Matsui; Cano. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rodriguez; Molina; Betemit. Team LOB: 7. FIELDING E: Cano (3, throw). NY Yankees IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Mussina (W, 1-1) 6.0 2 1 1 1 3 1 3.09 Bruney (H, 1) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 Farnsworth 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.70 Hawkins 1.0 1 0 0 1 1 0 21.0 WP: Hawkins. IBB: Cabrera (by Hammel). HBP: Aybar (by Bruney). Pitches-strikes: Hammel 88-55, Dohmann 36-22, Glover 12-9, Mussina 82-52, Bruney 13-10, Farnsworth 11-9, Hawkins 22-11. Ground outs-fly outs: Hammel 11-5, Dohmann 0-1, Glover 2-0, Mussina 11-4, Bruney 1-2, Farnsworth 1-1, Hawkins 2-0. Batters faced: Hammel 27, Dohmann 7, Glover 3, Mussina 22, Bruney 4, Farnsworth 3, Hawkins 5. Umpires: HP: James Hoye. 1B: Doug Eddings. 2B: Lance Barksdale. 3B: Ted Barrett. Weather: 48 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 7 mph, L to R. T: 2:53. Att: 41,302.