BEAT DOWN

Mike Mussina didn't make it through the third inning last night and the Yankees fell to the O's, 7-3. Mussina threw 88 pitches, but couldn't locate them very well. On the other hand Rodrigo Lopez pitched admirably, striking out Jason Giambi three times. Lopez had good movement on his fastball, which ran in on the lefties, only to break over the plate at the last moment. Giambi's streak of reaching base ended at 37. Karim Garcia added a late homer, and is now 7-14 as a Yankee.

It wasn't as if the Bombers didn't have their chances. They got on base, but couldn't put together any rallies. Alfonso Soriano has been hitting the ball well. I've noticed that he's taking the ball to right field a lot in the past week or so.

Before the game, Joe Torre announced that Brandon Claussen will get another start, and it's going to be a big one. The rookie will pitch this Saturday against the Red Sox. Clemens will start on the 4th of July (which will mark the 20th anniversay of Rags' no-no vs. Boston at the Stadium), and then Pettitte will pitch Sunday, with Mussina going against Pedro on Monday. Hopefully, Moose got the bad start out of his system. He has a good track record vs. Pedro on Mondays.

Last night's loss didn't seem so bad as the Red Sox threw one away against the D-Rays. According to Bob Holer in the Boston Globe:

For the second time in three games, Brandon Lyon suffered a crushing loss, this one when Nomar Garciaparra was unable to handle Lyon's errant throw when they had Rocco Baldelli trapped off second base with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning. Lyon's throw caromed off Garciaparra's glove into center field, allowing Baldelli to dash home with the decisive run in a 4-3 victory for the Rays before 12,122 at Tropicana Field.

The Tigers beat the Blue Jays for the second straight day (?!?!). The Jays have dropped four straight. The Yanks lead the Sox by four, and the Jays by six and a half.