Results tagged “mikemussina”

30 wins short of 300 career victories and after the first 20-win season of his career, Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina is reportedly retiring. The 39 year-old Mussina, who has pitched in the Majors for 18 seasons with the Orioles and the Yankees, retires with a 270-153 record and a 3.68 ERA. Fox Sports says that Mussina will officially announce his retirement later this week. And while Moose doesn't have 300 wins (the gold standard for Hall of Fame inductees), Fox points out that his Hall of Fame electability will be enhanced by the fact that he pitched in the steroid era and in the offense-heavy AL East.

As baseball fans wait for the free agency period to begin (November 14th) baseball starts handing out postseason awards. First up, the gold gloves which were announced for the NL yesterday and appear to have been announced early for the AL today.

   

• Jets 20, Dolphins 14: They didn't make it look easy, but the Jets took down the Dolphins to get the Brett Favre era off to a solid, if not resounding, start. Favre, came out of retirement and got traded to the Jets from Green Bay, threw two touchdown passes. The first, to Jerricho Cotchery, was a well-executed play on both ends. The second, to Chansi Stuckey, was not. On a fourth-down desperation play, Favre simply heaved the ball toward the end zone and was lucky that it was not picked off. Favre then had to watch from the sideline as Miami's Chad Pennington threw for more than 150 yards in the fourth quarter and almost led the game-winning drive throwing to stalwarts such as Anthony Fasano and Greg Camarillo. But then Darrelle Revis intercepted Pennington in the end zone, and the game was over. This week, the Jets play at home against the Patriots, who will be without Tom Brady, who is likely done for the year.
• Mets 6, Phillies 3: Averting the disaster of a three-game sweep, the Mets salvaged the nightcap of Sunday's doubleheader and the finale of a three-game series against the rival Phillies. Thanks in part to Johan Santana's 7 1/3 innings of two-run ball, the Mets now lead them by two games with 19 to play. Carlos Delgado had two homers -- again -- and also singled in two runs in the first. His resurgence has been noteworthy, but this rumblings of his earning consideration for the MVP award is a product over-excitement. How quickly Mets fans forget how much he stunk until June (and how much great Albert Pujols has been). The news was not all good; Billy Wagner could be done for the year.
• Across the way in Flushing, Serena Williams won her third U.S. Open title by defeating Jelena Jankovic in straight sets. She also took over the No. 1 ranking in the world with an impressive performance in a well-played match. That said, would it kill the women to play a deciding third set once in a while? It hasn't happened since 1995, when Steffi Graf was still roaming the courts.
• Mariners 5, Yankees 2: Fourth place? Get used to it. The Yankees fell to the lowly Mariners again Sunday, losing two of three in the Pacific Northwest. Mike Mussina stayed stuck on 17 wins after taking the loss. His bid for 20 is the only thing worth following these days.
Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Favre Wins Debut"

• Yankees 3, Red Sox 2: To answer the above question: Probably. But for one game -- the last regular-season contest between New York and Boston at Yankee Stadium -- the Yankees showed signs of life. Mike Mussina didn't get his 17th win -- 20 is looking less likely now -- but Jason Giambi picked up his team. He hit a pinch-hit, game-tying, two-run homer in the seventh inning. In the ninth, against Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon, Giambi snapped the 2-2 tie he created.
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Are the Yankees Dead Yet?"

• Yankees 8 Angels 2: How appropriate that on Old-Timers’ Day it was the Yankees oldest player who continued his season-long renaissance. Mike Mussina had a rocky second inning, but he settled down and pitched seven innings of two-hit ball for his 14th win of the year. Mussina would have pitched a shutout if Wilson Betemit could field, but the Yankees have no complaints after finally beating the Angels. Betemit redeemed himself with a homer to tie the game at 2 and three other Yankees went deep.
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Old-Timers' Day"

• Angels 12, Yankees 6: Ivan Rodriguez got cheered on his way up to his first at-bat. Then he struck out, and surprisingly got booed on the way back. The real boos should have been for his handling of starter Andy Petttitte, who had trouble getting on the same page with his catcher all night. The lefty allowed two three-run homers in the third inning, and the rout was on. Xavier Nady did homer and the Yankees helped their run differential by scoring three in the ninth inning, but that doesn't matter in the long run. The Angels own the Yankees, and, now that everyone considers the team from Los Angeles of Anaheim the best one in baseball, New York has the misfortune of playing it nine more times.
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Getting Adjusted"

• Yankees 5 Minnesota 1: New York completed the sweep thanks to another great start from Mike Mussina. Mussina won his 13th game of the year by pitching eight innings while allowing only six base runners and zero runs. He also struck out seven batters. With probably 12 more starts left this season, Mussina has a shot at winning 20 games for the first time in his career.
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Another Sweep"

• Yankees 7 Oakland 1: If you believe in omens, New York started the second half on a great note. After struggling all season long to get clutch hits, the Yankees got a bunch of them Friday as they easily beat the A’s. It was the newest Yankee, Richie Sexson, who got the Yankees on the board with a RBI-single in the first. New York then blew open the game with a huge home run from Robinson Cano (another good omen?) to take a 4-1 lead. In the fourth Bobby Abreu had a big hit and A-Rod added another one to put New York up 6-1. Mike Mussina made it stand with another solid performance, going six innings and allowing only one run. Mussina improved to 12-6 on the year.
Continue reading "Last Night's Action: A Good Start To The Second Half"

• Yankees 2, Red Sox 1: Classic games between these teams usually take four hours -- or four hours, 45 minutes -- not 2:58. The Yankees will take this. Mike Mussina spun six scoreless innings before Mariano Rivera wriggled off the hook in the ninth inning. The win came on the heels of two straight losses to open this four-game set. Mussina, whose unexpected successs (11 wins, 3.64 ERA) probably deserves to be on the All-Star team, finally started against Boston without throwing the Red Sox batting practice.
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: By the Skin of Their Teeth"

• Texas 2 Yankees 1: For the second game in a row, the Yankees’ offense took the day off. Apart from an Alex Rodriguez home run and a Jason Giambi triple (yes really) the Yankees only managed two other hits and only drew three walks.
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: No Offense"

Yankees 8 Houston 4: So far, a trip to Houston seems just like what the Yankees needed. Down 3-0 early, New York stormed back to win the game. Alex Rodriguez got the Yankees onto the board with a home run to right that got some assistance from an Astros’ fan who got his glove in the way. Jose Molina provided a huge double in the third that gave New York a 5-3 lead.

Jose Guillen has always hit well against the Yankees, but he took it to a new level in the four-game series the Royals just completed with the Yankees, where he went 9-for-16 with 4 home runs and several outfield assists. Guillen’s last home run of the series was off of Mariano Rivera in the 9th and it turned a 2-2 game into a 3-2 one that the Royals won.

Yankees 5 Toronto 1: Derek Jeter got his 2,416th hit, a RBI-single that put the Yankees ahead 1-0 and moved Jeter past Mickey Mantle on the all-time team hit list. It was Jeter’s only hit of the night, but the Yankees had plenty of offense. Johnny Damon had three hits and a RBI, Wilson Betemit had a home run and Jose Molina even chipped in with two hits.

• Yankees 6, Indians 3: Consider for a moment what situation the Yankees would have been in if they had lost this game. They would have been 3-6 (with the six losses coming in two sweeps) on a nine-game homestand and would have started a road trip in Detroit on a four-game losing streak. The Tigers swept the Yankees in the Bronx last week. To top that off, they would be sending the never-entertaining Kei Igawa to the mound.
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Avoiding Disaster"

Hideki Matsui added a RBI double in the eighth and the bullpen provided four shutout innings in support of Mike Mussina. Mussina won the 253rd game of his career, tying him with Carl Hubbell on the all-time list. The Yankees, who have played 18-of-20 on the road now come home for a long homestand.

• Red Sox 7, Yankees 5: Mike Mussina will be seeing Manny Ramirez in his sleep. The Stanford graduate gave up two home runs to the George Washington High School product as part of a distressing performance. The righty allowed five runs in three innings, and, unlike Wednesday, the Yankees could not put up 15 runs.
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Ramirez Strikes Again"

The bad news came from Pedro Martinez who is out 4-to-6 weeks with what is being described as a “mild strain” of his hamstring. What that means is Martinez is definitely out for April, but beyond that is impossible to tell. El Duque told SNY before the game that he needs three rehab starts in the minors, so he could be back in the rotation around April 20th.

The Yankees chipped away late in the game with solo home runs from Cano, A-Rod and Abreu, but they could get no closer and they will once again head into next season in search of their 27th championship. Who will be back and who will be managing in 2008 is hard to say right now, but expect a lot of changes in the Yankees’ organization over the next few weeks.

However, they still trail 2 games to 1 and Joe Torre’s neck is still on the line. Torre has done the right thing and announced that Chien-Ming Wang will start tonight on short rest. Wang gives the Yankees a better chance of wining than Mike Mussina, but keeping Cleveland in check will not be easy. To make matters worse, Joba pitched two innings Sunday and Mo one, so their availability in a close game is in question. What happens later tonight is impossible to predict, but at least we have another game to watch.

• IIndians 12, Yankees 3: Well, that didn't go as planned. Chien-Ming Wang didn't have his sinker, gave up a ton of two-out and two-strike hits, and the Yankees got buried. Their patient bats wore out C.C. Sabathia, but they only got three runs for their efforts against him, and that wasn't nearly enough given the way Wang pitched. Then they stunk up the joint against the Indians bullpen, but by them the game was over. It's only one in a five-game series, but the Yankees have an uphill battle. Remember who's likely pitching in Games 3 and 4: Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina. Andy Pettitte will face Fausto Carmona in Game 2 on Friday. Want a positive spin? The Yankees have never lost a division series in which they have lost the first game. That includes 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004. Those teams were better than this one though.
• Rangers 5, Panthers 2: A sluggish second period couldn't slow down the Rangers, who lit the lamp four times in the final session to pick up a win in their season opener. Who knows what Tom Renney said in the dressing room during the intermission, but it worked. The Rangers got three goals in two minutes and two in 12 seconds. Chris Drury, one of the big offseason signings, got a goal in a five-point performance.
• Lightning 3, Devils 1: Things didn't come up roses for the Devils, who started a season-opening nine-game road trip with a loss in Tampa Bay. Why the long trip? They're waiting for their new arena.
• FC Toronto 2, Red Bulls 1: Ah, the own goal. Soccer players' way of giving back -- to their opponents. Blame this one on Chris Leitch, who kicked the ball into his own net for the deciding score. New York will have to wait for a playoff berth.
Continue reading "Last Night's Action: An Early Hole"