After last night's disaster in Joba Chamberlain's first career start, things were back to normal tonight for the Yankees as they didn't have to deal with the media circus.
Mike Mussina took the ball looking to get the Yankees back on track by ending their three-game losing streak. He did so, pitching six effective innings and earning the win. The win was number nine for Mussina, which ties him for the league lead. Mussina, whose loss of velocity has been well documented this season, kept the Bluejays hitters off balanced with an array of different offspeed pitches and a fastball which sported impressive late movement. One night after Chamberlain went 2.1 innings in his first start, the Yankees were in need of a good start to give the bullpen a bit of a breather and Mussina provided that.
Hitting with runners in scoring position has been a major problem for the Yankees all year, as they have consistently been ranked near the bottom of the league. Tonight, for a change, the Yankees were efficient in those situations as Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Melky Cabrera and Derek Jeter all contributed with run scoring singles. Wilson Betemit rounded out the scoring with a homer off of Jess Litsch.
Jeter's RBI single, not only put the Yankees ahead it also gave him 2,416 hits which passed Mickey Mantle on the Yankees all time list. The win also inched the Yankees closer to that illustrious .500 mark.
