Mussina tops Jays for third straight win
Righty's seven strong innings help Yankees gain on Red Sox
Righty's seven strong innings help Yankees gain on Red Sox
By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com
NEW YORK -- The Yankees are almost certainly going to be in the playoffs, and Mike Mussina is almost certainly going to be a part of it.
Making his third start since returning to the rotation, Mussina moved closer to locking up a potential playoff start on Sunday, pitching seven strong innings against the Blue Jays to help the Yankees to a 7-5 victory, the 250th of Mussina's career.
The effort moved the Yankees to within 1 1/2 games of the Red Sox in the American League East as they close in on completing a historic comeback. New York's magic number for clinching a playoff spot dropped to two, as the Yankees remained 5 1/2 games up on the Tigers in the AL Wild Card race.
"We're just playing baseball the way we wanted to play it from the beginning," said Mussina (11-10). "We had a lot of struggles in the beginning of the season, and now, with a week to go, we're in the position we want to be in. We're playing the game the way we want to play it. It's not anywhere close to the same team it was in April and May."
The Yankees have won 14 of 17 to improve to a season-high 25 games over .500. New York will complete its home schedule on Monday, making up an April 25 rainout, before playing its final six games on the road.
"This is the time of year that you want to play well, because the pressure is on," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "You have certain things that you need to accomplish. We've played well under pressure all year. The most important thing is to make sure we don't lose our edge."
Mussina, who had to be pulled from the rotation in late August after three consecutive horrid starts, has re-emerged in September to regain Torre's trust. With the exception of a three-run blip in the second inning, Mussina held Toronto scoreless in six of the seven innings he pitched on Sunday, including retiring nine straight to close out his start.
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