Yanks Grit Out 2-1 Win

Mike Mussina pitched 6.1 innings giving up only 1 run on 5 hits and the Pinstripers had just enough runs to carry the day. The only run credited to Mussina came from a walk in the seventh inning which later scored after Ross Ohlendorf gave up two consecutive base hits.

Glass Half Full: Mussina looked good on the mound. Chamberlain and Rivera were locked on in their appearances. Joba struck out 3 batters and walked 1. Despite getting himself in a tight spot, Ohlendorf managed to get out of a jam with a double play.

Robinson Cano went 4 for 4 and brought his average up over .200 for the first time this year.

Glass Half Empty: Moose doesn't seem to be able to last a full seven innings, which would be ideal. Still, six innings is very good for the aging veteran.

Ohlendorf gave up 2 hits in 3 batters faced, allowing an inherited runner to score. I don't necessarily like the way baseball credits runs and earned runs and I think there needs to be another stat for runners who score while you're on the mound.

The Yankees only scored 2 runs. Without such a good pitching performance the Yanks would have been in trouble. This team needs to score more runs consistently. They won't always have good pitching to fall back on and even when they do (like with Wang yesterday) they still need to tack on a few more.

Overall: A win is a win. Moose's pitching was encouraging. The Yankee bats were disappointing, but they were good enough to get the job done.

Other Stuff: Joe Girardi's locker room closed-door meeting before the game inspired the Yankees to get the job done, but did'nt do much for their sleeping bats.

The Rays signed Kazmir to another contract, locking him up for a while. There had been talk about possibly trading Kazmir or another starting pitcher, but looks like he's going to stick around for a while.

Jeff Karstens threw five innings in extended spring training and should be available before long. He won't be a superstar but hopefully will be an option if someone gets injured or as a long reliever now that Rasner is in the rotation.