Molina's Three RBIs Spark Yanks

The Yankees honored the late Phil Rizzuto before Sunday afternoon's ballgame and then went out and showed the same grit and determination that made "The Scooter" a Hall of Famer.

The Blue Jays jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second, but the Yanks stormed right back with three runs in the bottom of the frame and scored three more in the fifth en route to a 7-5 victory over the Jays in the Bronx.  Mike Mussina was shaky early, but settled down and gave the Yankees seven strong innings, Jose Molina drove in three and Joba Chamberlain picked up his first big league save as the Bombers once again moved to within 1.5 games of the Red Sox in the AL East.  The Bombers remained 5.5 games ahead of the Tigers, but shaved their magic number for a playoff berth to two games.

I'll be honest with you Yankee fans, my attention was fixed on the Jets on Sunday and I also had family obligations to attend to, so my roundup will be extremely half-assed.

The Good:

Mike Mussina.  The Moose of early 2007 would have gone straight into the crapper after giving up three runs in the second inning, but this is the new and improved Mussina.  Mussina's scoreless inning streak may have come crashing down, but he didn't panic and turned in his third straight quality start.  The Moose dropped his ERA to under 5.00 on the season (4.96) and picked up his 250th career victory.  Congrats, Mike.  Mussina's final numbers: 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K.

Jose Molina.  Molina spelled Jorgie Posada on Sunday and did a bang up job.  Jose got the Yanks on the board with an RBI-single in the second to cut the Blue Jay lead to 3-1 and later added two insurance runs with a run-scoring single in the fifth and an RBI-double in the seventh.  He also picked Alex Rios off first in the third and made a nice tag on a play at the plate in the fourth.  The acquisition of Molina may be lost among the callups of Chamberlain, Hughes and Kennedy, but he's been a great pickup for the Yanks.  Molina finished 3 for 4 with a run scored and 3 RBIs.

Joba Chamberlain.  Looks like the Yanks have finally taken the swimmies off of the rookie right-hander.  The "Joba Rules" were broken as the Yankees brought him in with two runners on and two outs in the eighth inning.  Chamberlain calmly struck out Adam Lind to end the threat and then pitched a 1,2,3 ninth for his first Major League save.  It was a nice dress rehearsal for the playoffs.  Chamberlain's line: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K.

The Bad:

Luis Vizcaino.  The Viz entered the game in the eighth with the Yankees up 7-3 and coughed up two runs and forced the Yanks to bring in Chamberlain with runners on first and second and two outs.  It worked out in the end, but Vizcaino has been shaky lately and sports a 8.44 ERA in September.  Not good.  Vizcaino's totals: .2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR.

The Ugly:

Pushed back -- again.  Roger Clemens will be held out of Monday afternoon's game with that tight hammy.  It's the second time that The Rocket has been pushed back in this series.  The old man and the Yanks are downplaying it, but it's something that could take on a life of its own.  Clemens pitched great in his last start against the Red Sox, but that came after a 13-day lay off.  The Rocket may finally be breaking down, but the Yankees still need him.

Andy Pettitte will make the start for the Yanks on Monday afternoon against Toronto's hard throwing righty A.J. Burnett.  Burnett shut down the Yanks on Sept. 13 (8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 8 K), but picked up a no decision in the Jays 2-1 win.  He's 1-0 with a 0.60 ERA in two starts this season against New York.  Pettitte got back on track with a sparkling game against Baltimore (7.2 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 4 K) and is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA in three starts against the Blue Jays this year.

Monday is also the last home game for the Yanks -- until October.