A clinic in pitching

A short wrap-up for you because I’m heading off to the new beer garden in Prospect Heights: Mike Mussina is thriving this year not because he’s a better pitcher but because he’s pitching better. It’s a subtle difference, but what we’re seeing this year is a clinic in pitching by an old master who many of us — including me — had written off. Mike Mussina has learned how to use his killer breaking pitches and the “slow, slower, slowest” approach to set up an average fastball. His striking out the side in the sixth was masterful.

So now, over his last three starts, Mussina has given the Yankees 18 innings. He’s allowed 18 hits while walking just two batters and striking out 10. He’s 3-0 over that span, and his ERA is 2.50. I, for one, am enjoying the career resurgence of Mussina, and I’m happy to see that I was wrong in calling him a dead Moose a little under a month ago.