Friday, September 19, 2008
Yankees.com: Abreu powers Yanks to finale victory
NEW YORK—When Yankees starter Mike Mussina recorded a strikeout to end the sixth inning, it could have been the end of his night.
After he was worked for 28 pitches and one run in the first inning, the right-hander shut down the White Sox offense, retiring 10 straight batters spanning the second and fifth innings. And in the meantime, the Yankees lineup unloaded for seven runs to put Mussina in line for the victory.
But instead of pulling him after the sixth inning, manager Joe Girardi made a move based on the suggestion of pitching coach Dave Eiland and sent Mussina back to the mound.
He faced one batter before Girardi took his starter out. Mussina left to a chorus of “Moose” calls and tipped his cap to the crowd as he walked off the field at Yankee Stadium for the final time.
“Moose is a historian, and he loves this game, and I think for him to have an opportunity to do that was really special,” Girardi said.
Moose keeps his shot at 20 wins alive with a solid out. Bobby Abreu’s been hitting well of late (.339/.413/ .540 since the All Star Break), although zone rating says his defense has given it all back (-23 runs saved compared to average over the full season so far). His good hitting does help make him more attractive to teams as a free agent, so that’s good too.
So, last night I had this nutty dream. In my dream, the Yankees swept Baltimore over the weekend, while Toronto took 2 out of 3 at home against Boston behind Burnett and Halladay. So on Monday morning, the Yankees were 85-71, trailing 90-65 Boston by 5.5 games. Then the Yankees swept Toronto on the road while Boston lost 3 of 4 to Cleveland at home. So heading into the final series of the season, the Yankees were 88-71 and Boston was 91-68. So the Yankees could tie for the wild card if they swept.
Then I woke up screaming, because Sidney Ponson was scheduled to pitch the series opener.
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