AA - The Trenton Thunder activated pitcher Kevin Whelan from the disabled list yesterday. Whelan was one of the chips that the Yankees received in the Gary Sheffield deal...and with a good performance, he'll probably end up in AAA before the end of the year.

Peter Abraham reports that, with Wang being placed on the DL, Billy Traber is up and that Dan Giese will start on Saturday.

The Post has thoughts from Jeter on Willie Randolph's firing. He feels bad for Randolph, of course, but this was the best quote:


I'm sure he didn't mean it as a shot, but... zing.

Hal Steinbrenner also spoke up, saying he was "shocked". On honoring Willie, he said:

Yesterday, ESPN published a feature on A-Rod's relationship with Pete Rose. It makes for an interesting read. As part of their conversations, Rose gave him five good reasons to leave the Yankees for Boston this offseason.

Chad Jennings reports that J.B. Cox, recently sidelined by a sore shoulder, began throwing yesterday.

Ha, see what I did there? Anyway, take a look at Steven White's line tonight in relief; 0.2 innings, 1 hit, 7 ER and 4 BBs. Remember, this is a kid that put up a 3.34 ERA last year in AAA so he can pitch...but over his last 10 appearances, he's sporting a 13.31 ERA...and a 27 ERA in June. Yeesh. I sure hope he's not injured and trying to pitch through pain...if not, I'd love to figure out the reason for his getting LIT up.

Yeah. It's bad.


He will be only be off crutches in 6 weeks...how long after that will he be able to rehab? This is a major ouch...oh, those baseball gods have a wicked sense of humor.

It figures. The Yankees seem to start their roll and something bad happens...and not just kinda bad either; potentially SUPERBAD.

Regarding the game. Well, it was a blowout. The Yanks scored 3 in the 3rd when with 2 out (this would be a recurring theme), they loaded the bases for Jorge Posada who worked a walk to bring in a run. Robbie Cano then blooped a broken bat single over the defense to score two more.

The Yankees then scored 8 more in the sixth (again, all with 2 out) but that's when Chien-Ming Wang pulled up lame as he made his way around the bases. Watching it as it happened...well, it didn't look very good. There's been a lot of speculation about the extent of the injury but until the MRI comes back, we just don't know. It could be anywhere from a couple starts to a couple months to the rest of the season. Who knows at this point?

What we do know is that the Yankees are in a tough spot. They now have to really rely on Joba, Pettitte and Mussina to keep doing what they are doing and pray that Rasner keeps the pace that he's been on. The question of whether Ian Kennedy would have a spot in the rotation might have just been answered and you gotta hope that he is up to the task.

Naturally, this type of injury will cause the rumor mill to explode. You name a pitcher and I bet you that the Yankees will be thrown into the mix. Clearly C.C. Sabathia will be the main topic but the Indians are just 6 games back of the division leader (just one more than the Yanks) in mid-June. Are they really ready to give up on the season, especially with Fausto Carmona expected to begin a minor league rehab assignment next week? I doubt it.

And finally, how will this affect the Yankees morale? The team is finally playing well and have started to make a run. Hopefully, they can bounce back from this disappointment...however bad it might end up being.

In any case, the Yankees scored another 2 in the 8th and swept the series and maybe got some revenge for the 6 pitcher no-hitter the Astros handed them back in 2003.

Newsday caught up with Hank Steinbrenner regarding Mike Mussina's performance this season and his remarks earlier this season, stating that Moose needed to pitch more like Jamie Moyer.

So, Hank, what do you think of Mussina's turnaround? Do we score one for the Baby Boss' motivational skills?

"I'm not going to take credit for that," Steinbrenner said in a telephone interview Sunday morning. "He's smart enough to figure that stuff out himself. He's been playing baseball a long time."

Via Steve.

Mike Mussina has now won 10 games or more in 17 straight seasons, as his victory over the Astros Saturday night gave him win #10 two or three months before most people thought he'd have a chance to do it this season. It was the third straight victory for the Yankees, who moved three games above the .500 mark for the first time this season (let's just pretend it's April 15 and not June). The Bombers also kept pace with the Red Sox and Rays, who both won yesterday.

At first it looked like it might be a rough night for Mussina and the Yankees, as Carlos Lee put one into the seats in the 1st inning to give the Astros a 3-0 lead. Moose was excellent after that, however, allowing only three more hits and keeping the Astros scoreless over the next 5 and 1/3.

The Yankees ate away at Houston's lead in the 2nd when A-Rod led off the inning with a home run, and Giambi hit a double off the wall and would later score on a double by Melky Cabrera. The Yankees jumped ahead in the 3rd with a two-run, bases loaded single by Jose Molina after Cabrera had walked to tie the game.

The Astros would pull to within 5-4 in the 7th, but a pinch-hit, RBI single by Robinson Cano gave the Yankees some insurance in the 8th, and a two-run double by Wilson Betemit following an intentional walk to A-rod opened the gap further. 8-4 would prove to be the final as Edwar Ramirez pitched a scoreless 9th.

The Yankees will go for the sweep later this afternoon at 2:05 E.T. as Chien-Ming Wang will face Roy Oswalt in a battle of "aces." I never thought I could be so ecstatic about the idea of the Yankees being four games over .500.