Yankees Win Behind Mike "Screw a Fastball I Got Finesse" Mussina

I'm back from Nigeria and ready to get into some baseball! I don't know about the rest of yall, but I for one enjoyed my brother's Good, Bad, and Ugly posts. I'll have to get him to do more. I'm going to be posting later about the experience in Nigeria and some observations about the Yankees and whatnot, but for now, let's cover yesterday's game.

The Good

Where has Mike Mussina come from? He got his 10th win of the season behind 6 innings of 3 run ball. He gave up a three run shot in the first inning to Carlos Lee, but pitched 5 shutout innings to show the Astro's who the Alpha male was. Farnsworth and Ramirez pitched 2 innings of scoreless relief, and A-Rod hit a solo homerun to start the 2nd inning. Cano had an RBI pinch hit single, which I'm sure was a confidence booster and Damon had 3 hits to continue his surge. Melky had a big game with 2 hits and 2 walks with 2 RBI's. Molina also had a big hit with the bases loaded to knock in 2 runs.

The Bad

Ohlendorf pitched 1 inning and gave up a run. He's slowly but surely pitching himself out of the good graces. He has good stuff, but sometimes he struggles keeping his sinker down. Its concerning.

The Ugly

Despite his quality start, Mussina mustered little in the way of offense going 0-3 and leaving 2 runners on base. He showed no opposite field power, didn't hit to the gaps, didn't take advantage of the short left field. He must have forgotten that chicks love the long ball.

Derek Jeter got an error when Mussina threw a ball to him to pick off Carlos Lee. The announcers said that Mussina was to blame with the throw, but I still blame Jeter. He tried to make the tag before he had the ball. That's on him. The throw wasn't great, but its not like it was 10 feet away. He should have caught it.

The Yankees are 3 games over .500 for the first time this season. Some may see that as an achievement, but we at the Respect Jeter's Gangster blog see it for what it is: mediocrity. And mediocrity is ugly. Pull it together Yankees!

Respect Jeter's Gangster is for the Children

The "Respect Jeter's Gangster" blog joined Johnny Damon's home run club, which raises money for the Children's Health Fund. We are pledged to donate $1.00 for every homerun the Yankees hit this season. We will keep a running tally of the home runs hit and the money donated throughout the season. A-Rod hit a homerun with the help of an Astro's fan. The children thank you anonymous Astro fan, and so do we. Thank you.

Melky Cabrera 7hr = $7.00
Alex Rodriguez 11hr = $11.00
Hideki Matsui 7 hr = $7.00
Bobby Abreu 8hr = $8.00
Jorge Posada 2hr = $2.00
Jason Giambi 15hr = $15.00
Johnny Damon 6hr = $6.00
Morgan Ensberg 1hr = $1.00
Robinson Cano 4hr = $4.00
Chad Moeller 1hr = $1.00
Wilson Betemit 3hr = $3.00
Derek Jeter 4hr = $4.00
Shelley Duncan 1hr = $1.00
Total = $70.00

If you are interested in Johnny Damon's Homerun Club or the Children's Health Fund you can find links to both at the top right hand corner of our page.