The Yankees rode Mike Mussina's seven shutout innings to a 12-0 stomping of the Orioles last night, and damn if it doesn't still feel good to beat this team and watch their Baltimoron fans suffer.
More importantly, the Yankees expanded their Wild Card lead to 4.5 games and pulled to within 2.5 games of the struggling Red Sox in the A.L. East.
HOWEVER...the downside to last night's game is two-fold: 1) Mike Mussina is perilously close to earning a playoff start, which would be a disaster. Shutting down the doormat Orioles is one thing, trying to sneak 86 MPH fastballs past Travis Hafner or Vlad Guerrero is something else entirely; and 2) Minky continues to play well, all but guaranteeing himself a spot in the post-season starting lineup, which means that once again, the Yankees won't be fielding their best team.
First things first, though: before we start complaining about the playoff roster, let's get in the tournament.
And in all seriousness, congratulations to the Moose for an amazing 16 straight seasons of double-digit wins. In the American League, no less.
