Stars Align for Moose

Right now we can't imagine how Mike Mussina will not be picked for this year's American League All-Star team. His last selection was in 1999. Mussina (9-4) continued his remarkable season last night by dazzling the Toronto Blue Jays for 6 innings in a 5-1 Yankees victory. The win snapped the Yankees 3-game losing streak and gave Mussina his 9th win of the season, tied with the Angels' Joe Saunders and Indians' Cliff Lee for tops in the American League.

Mussina allowed a pair of harmless singles through the first three innings and then the Yankees got on the board first. Jose Molina lead off the bottom of the 3rd with a single off Jays starter Jesse Litsch, and moved to 3rd Base on Johnny Damon's perfectly execute 1-out hit and run single. Derek Jeter then made history when he inside outed a ball to right field for an RBI single. It was hit number 2,416, moving him past Mickey Mantle into sole possession of 3rd place on the all-time Yankees hit list.

Mussina allowed a lead off double to Alex Rios in the 4th, but retired Scott Rolen on a line out and struck out Matt Stairs and Lyle Overbay. The Yankees then took advantage with 2 outs in their half of the inning. Wilson Betemit took Litsch deep to right for his 2nd home run of the season and a 2-0 lead. Robinson Cano followed with a double and after a walk to Molina, Melky Cabrera singled to right for a 3-0 advantage.

That would be all Mussina would need. He retired 8 men in a row before allowing a 2-out walk to Rios in the 6th. Home ump C.B. Bucknor seemed to tighten the strike zone in the at-bat. Moose was clearly frustrated on some 2-strike calls to Rolen as well and surrendered an RBI double before finally retiring Stairs on a ground out to Cano. The long pitch sequences to Rios and Rolen cost Mussina another inning as he left to a big ovation after 103 pitches.

The Yankees tacked on single runs in the 6th and 7th on RBI singles by Damon and Hideki Matsui. Ross Ohlendorf, Kyle Farnsworth, and Mariano Rivera finished up with 1 inning each. Rivera, in a non-save situation, struck out 2 of the 3 batters he faced.

News and Notes

Johnny Damon extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

Blue Jays outfielder Vernon Wells is ahead of schedule in his recovery from a broken wrist and could be back in 10 days. He's begun taking batting practice.


June 4, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Toronto	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0		1	6	0
NY Yankees	0	0	1	2	0	1	1	0	X		5	12	0

Toronto	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Stewart, LF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.253
Scutaro, 2B	4	0	1	0	0	2	0	.269
Rios, CF	3	1	2	0	1	1	0	.266
Rolen, 3B	4	0	1	1	0	1	3	.304
Stairs, DH	4	0	0	0	0	2	2	.261
Overbay, 1B	4	0	2	0	0	1	1	.280
Barajas, C	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.297
Thigpen, C	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Wilkerson, RF	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	.237
Eckstein, SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	.268
Totals	32	1	6	1	1	9	11
BATTING 2B: Rios (13, Mussina), Rolen (13, Mussina). TB: Scutaro; Rios 3; Rolen 2; Overbay 2. RBI: Rolen (15). 2-out RBI: Rolen. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Overbay; Stairs; Eckstein. GIDP: Rolen. Team LOB: 5. FIELDING DP: 3 (Overbay-Eckstein-Litsch, Eckstein-Scutaro-Overbay, Rolen-Scutaro-Overbay).

Toronto IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Litsch (L, 7-2) 5.1 10 4 4 2 1 1 3.45 Camp 1.0 1 1 1 1 0 0 4.11 Downs 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.88 Benitez 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.18

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	4	0	3	1	0	0	2	.310
Jeter, SS	4	0	1	1	0	1	2	.282
Abreu, RF	3	1	0	0	1	0	3	.281
Rodriguez, 3B	4	0	1	0	0	0	2	.293
Matsui, DH	3	0	2	1	1	0	0	.337
Betemit, 1B	4	1	1	1	0	0	4	.238
Cano, 2B	4	1	1	0	0	0	1	.217
Molina, C	3	2	2	0	1	0	0	.222
Cabrera, CF	4	0	1	1	0	1	2	.265
Totals	33	5	12	5	3	2	16
BATTING 2B: Cano (11, Litsch), Rodriguez (13, Litsch), Molina (12, Litsch). HR: Betemit (2, 4th inning off Litsch, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Damon 3; Jeter; Rodriguez 2; Matsui 2; Betemit 4; Cano 2; Molina 3; Cabrera. RBI: Jeter (27), Betemit (4), Cabrera (26), Damon (27), Matsui (28). 2-out RBI: Betemit; Cabrera; Damon. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Damon 2; Betemit. GIDP: Cano; Abreu; Betemit. Team LOB: 7. FIELDING DP: (Cano-Jeter-Betemit).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mussina (W, 9-4)	6.0	5	1	1	1	6	0	4.01
Ohlendorf (H, 3)	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	5.79
Farnsworth	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	4.28
Rivera	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0.35

WP: Ohlendorf.
IBB: Matsui (by Litsch).
Pitches-strikes: Litsch 99-59, Camp 16-8, Downs 8-6,
Benitez 10-7, Mussina 103-67, Ohlendorf 18-10,
Farnsworth 13-9, Rivera 14-10.
Ground outs-fly outs: Litsch 10-5, Camp 3-0, Downs 2-0,
Benitez 1-1, Mussina 6-6, Ohlendorf 2-1, Farnsworth 1-1, Rivera 1-0.
Batters faced: Litsch 26, Camp 5, Downs 2, Benitez 3,
Mussina 23, Ohlendorf 4, Farnsworth 3, Rivera 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Camp 1-1, Downs 1-1.
Umpires: HP: CB Bucknor. 1B: Joe West. 2B: Ed Rapuano.
3B: Ed Hickox.
Weather: 70 degrees, rain.
Wind: 6 mph, Out to LF.
T: 2:46.
Att: 51,151.

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