KANSAS CITY – They aren’t as good as David Wells, David Cone and Andy Pettitte in 1998. Nor are they in the class of Roger Clemens, Pettitte and Cone in 1999. Nor Clemens, Pettitte and Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez the next October. They don’t measure up to Mike Mussina, Clemens and Pettitte in 2001. Nor Clemens, Wells and Pettitte in 2003.
Yet it’s generally believed the trio of Randy Johnson, Chien-Ming Wang and Mussina are good enough to get the Yankees to the World Series for the first time since 2003.
However, the trio has to be not only healthy but pitching well come October.
That’s why Tuesday night’s 5-0 loss to the Royals at Kauffman Stadium was insignificant to the Yankees’ big picture. More important than the Yankees getting blanked for the third time this season (all 5-0, by the way) was Mussina’s right groin staying quiet through five-plus innings (four runs and eight hits) and after his first outing since Aug. 20.
“I wasn’t too disappointed,” said Mussina, who struggled with location but felt no discomfort with the wrapped groin. “It could have been a lot worse. I got through it and didn’t get hurt again. That’s a positive. My leg was really good.”
With the playoffs looming, the Yankees need Mussina healthy and effective. With five starts remaining before the ALDS, Mussina should be ready to assume one of Joe Torre’s top three spots in the October rotation.
“[Mussina] sort of takes the sting out of it,” Torre said of the defeat that was the result of the Yankees going 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and stranding 11 runners against Jorge De La Rosa and Tim Wellemeyer. “It was a legitimate game, they beat us 5-0, and it was one of those games we weren’t going to win. But we wanted Moose to come out of it unharmed. I thought he was fairly smooth, but he will get better. He is probably going to get sharper.”
Because the Yankees started last night’s action eight games ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East, it’s not too early to start guessing in what order Torre is going to use Mussina, Johnson and Wang. Torre grimaces when asked any questions about the postseason his team hasn’t qualified for yet.
If you had to do it today without knowing the Yankees’ opponent, the smart money would be on Wang in the opener followed by Johnson and Mussina. Wang has been the Yankees’ best pitcher, sporting a 16-5 record. Johnson has pitched well in the second half, and Mussina is the perfect guy to pitch the first game on the road.
That’s why Tuesday night’s development was so encouraging.
Mussina gave up a run in the first on Mike Sweeney’s two-out double and added two in the fourth when he traded a run for two outs when John Buck hit into a bases-loaded double play. Mussina could have been out of the inning with one run when Andres Blanco, the No. 9 batter, lofted a ball to left field, but Melky Cabrera lost it in the lights and another run scored to hike the deficit to 3-0.
When Emil Brown opened the bottom of the sixth with a homer on Mussina’s 86th pitch, Torre replaced Mussina with Brian Bruney, a bullet-throwing righty who has caught Torre’s eye as a possible October bullpen arm.
“I want to pitch well and I want to win ballgames,” Mussina said. “But today wasn’t our day. We didn’t pitch well enough and we didn’t swing the bats well enough.”
But Mussina’s groin was more than well.
