The Moose is Loose, Now Have Yanks Turned the Corner?

Mike Mussina (10-4?!!) pitched six solid innings for his latest win,  and the Yanks moved three games above .500 for the first time this season in their latest victory over the Astros Saturday night. Mussina now improves to 9-1 in his last 11 starts, and the Yanks offense in general is going through a sort of renaissance.(Here’s a trip down memory lane: remember the last time the Yanks played Houston? That’s right, it was when six-pitchers combined to no-hit the Yanks in one of the most depressing games I’ve ever seen. Also, how unspectacular is it to have six guys combine for a no-hitter?!)

The Yankees won for the eighth time in 11 games and secured their first back-to-back road series wins for the first time this season. The Yanks schedule in June is pretty light, so it’s good to see them taking advantage of teams they should beat.

It’s also nice to see Mussina answer his critics by pitching as well as he has. Mike was written off by pretty much every sportswriter in the city in April, and is now a solid contributor the Yanks recent surge. He’s a smart guy (graduated Stanford in 3 years)–maybe too smart for his own good, as he tends to overthink each situation. Perhaps he’s learned to adapt to his limitations now.

So does all this translate to the Yanks getting consistent wins and making a run for the playoffs? They’re in a better position than they were a year ago when they got the wildcard. I think catching Boston at this point may be unrealistic, but they’re only a few games out of the wildcard right now.

Anyway, there’s a ton of games yet to play, and I think the Yanks will definitely deal come July. After the non-deal for Santana, the Steinbrenners are itching to make a splash by the trade deadline. I’ll keep you all posted about possible deal rumors.

Being a .500 team is a drag–just win you huff it for a win one night, you drop the game right after, and there’s never a sense of consistency. My softball team is going through this right now, so we’re seeing if some new softball and baseball equipment will do the job. 

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