Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Moose Dominates in Yankees Sweep

Mike Mussina may not have made the American League All-Star team, but he's clearly All-World in the eyes of the Yankees right now. Mussina picked up his 13th win by throwing 8 dominant innings in the Yankees 5-1 win over the Minnesota Twins. The victory completed the Yankees second straight series sweep, allowed them to keep pace with the 1st place Rays, and moved them to a season high 11 games over .500.

Moose (13-6, 3.26) scattered 6 hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out 7 as he earned his 263rd career win. For a while it seemed Mussina might fall victim to a lack of run support, but the Yankees finally broke through against Twins starter Glen Perkins in the 5th. Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera started the rally with back to back one out singles. Jose Molina hit into a force out, but rookie Justin Christian delivered a big two out double into the left corner that scored both runners for a 2-0 lead.

The Yankees tacked on runs in the 6th after Derek Jeter led off with a double and Bobby Abreu drew a walk. Both came around when Alex Rodriguez hammered a ball of the wall in left. Rodriguez moved to 3rd on the throw and scored on Richie Sexson's fly to deep center.

Meanwhile, Mussina was mowing down Twins as he has all opponents this season. He allowed just three singles through 5 innings and no base runner reached 2nd base. He gave up a lead off single in the 6th to Carlos Gomez, but got Denard Span to hit into a double play. It proved crucial when Alexi Casilla followed with a double. Mussina then retired Mike Redmond on an inning ending ground out. He retired the side in order in the 8th, striking out the final two hitters, waving to the fans who gave him a standing ovation.

The Twins finally broke up the shutout against LaTroy Hawkins in the 9th on a Mike Lamb single, but Mariano Rivera came on to strike out Jason Kubel with two aboard to end it. Rivera recorded his 25th save in as many chances.


News and Notes

Another day in July, another multi-hit game for Robinson Cano. He's now 14-27 since the break.

Justin Christian was 2-3 with 2 RBI and a stolen base. It's time for Brett Gardner to go back to Scranton and for Christian to get some more chances.


July 23, 2008

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
1 9 0
NY Yankees
0 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 X
5 9 0

MinnesotaABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Span, RF4000012.326
Casilla, 2B4120010.323
Redmond, C4010002.288
Morneau, DH4010011.317
Young, LF4000023.294
Lamb, 1B4031000.229
Harris, 3B3010012.261
a-Kubel, PH1000012.259
Punto, SS3000012.303
Gomez, CF3010011.248
Totals341910915

a-Struck out for Harris in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: Casilla (14, Mussina), Lamb (9, Mussina).
TB: Casilla 3; Redmond; Morneau; Lamb 4; Harris; Gomez.
RBI: Lamb (27).
2-out RBI: Lamb.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Redmond; Harris; Kubel.
GIDP: Punto; Span.
Team LOB: 6.

FIELDING
Pickoffs: Perkins (Abreu at 1st base).

MinnesotaIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Perkins (L, 7-3)6.08551204.08
Guerrier 1.01000203.40
Nathan 1.00000001.08


BATTING
2B: Christian (2, Perkins), Jeter (21, Perkins), Rodriguez, A (20, Perkins).
TB: Jeter 3; Rodriguez, A 2; Cano 2; Cabrera 2; Christian 3.
RBI: Christian 2 (4), Rodriguez, A 2 (61), Sexson (32).
2-out RBI: Christian 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Damon; Abreu.
SF: Sexson.
Team LOB: 4.

BASERUNNING
SB: Christian (3, 2nd base off Guerrier/Redmond).
CS: Abreu (7, 2nd base by Perkins/Redmond).
PO: Abreu (1st base by Perkins).

FIELDING
DP: 2 (Sexson-Jeter, Cano-Jeter-Sexson).

NY YankeesIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Mussina (W, 13-6)8.06000703.26
Hawkins 0.23110105.71
Rivera (S, 25)0.10000101.21

WP: Hawkins.
Pitches-strikes: Perkins 85-53, Guerrier 16-11, Nathan 16-10,
Mussina 105-73, Hawkins 12-11, Rivera 4-3.
Ground outs-fly outs: Perkins 7-8, Guerrier 0-1, Nathan 3-0,
Mussina 13-4, Hawkins 1-0, Rivera 0-0.
Batters faced: Perkins 26, Guerrier 4, Nathan 3,
Mussina 28, Hawkins 5, Rivera 1.
Inherited runners-scored: Rivera 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Mike DiMuro. 1B: Damien Beal.
2B: Mike Everitt. 3B: Tim McClelland.
Weather: 76 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 14 mph, L to R.
T: 2:31.
Att: 54,114.

No comments:

Post a Comment