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GAME LOG
NEW YORK (AP) – Mike Mussina fit right in to the New York
Yankees' star-studded pitching staff.
|  | | Mike Mussina limited the Royals to five hits during Thursday's victory. |
Mussina followed up strong starts by Roger Clemens and Andy
Pettitte by pitching 7 2/3 scoreless innings in a sparkling debut
for New York in a 1-0 win over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday.
"There were a lot of places I could have gone where they would
have sent me out as the opening-day starter and expected me to win
22 games," Mussina said. "That's not the case here. Pitching
behind Roger and especially Pettitte, being left-handed, really
helps me. I hope it keeps up all year."
Mussina, who signed an $88.5 million, six-year contract in
November as a free agent, was cool and efficient, using a lively
fastball, an effective changeup and his knuckle curve to shut down
the Royals on five hits.
"He can throw any pitch for a strike and that makes it very
hard for a batter to sit on a pitch," catcher Jorge Posada said.
"He's good and he knows it. He's fun to catch."
Paul O'Neill hit a solo homer in the first inning for the only
run the Yankees needed off Dan Reichert (0-1). The three-time World
Series champions have opened the season 3-0 for the first time
since 1995.
Predictably, starting pitching has been the biggest reason why.
Clemens, Pettitte and Mussina have allowed four runs and 18 hits in
23 innings for a 3-0 record and a 1.57 ERA, with Clemens giving up
three runs and Pettitte one.
"Mussina was picture perfect," Royals manager Tony Muser said.
"We saw three pretty good pitchers with three pretty good starts.
If they keep pitching like that, they'll be tough to beat."
Kansas City, which scored just five runs in the three-game
series, started the season 0-3 for the sixth time in 10 years.
Mussina, who spent the first 10 years of his career in
Baltimore, didn't seemed fazed at all by his Yankees debut. He
spent pregame time as he customarily does, with a crossword puzzle.
The Royals had more trouble with Mussina's tricky stuff than he
did with the puzzle.
"I've been coming here for 10 years, but it was different being
in the other dugout knowing these very knowledgeable fans were on
my side instead of against me," Mussina said.
Mussina retired his first five batters before facing his only
trouble with two outs in the second. Mark Quinn, who entered
6-for-9 with two homers off Mussina, singled and went to third on
Dee Brown's double. Mussina then got A.J. Hinch on a comebacker and
didn't allow another runner to reach scoring position.
Mussina struck out three and didn't walk a batter before leaving
to a standing ovation with a runner on first and two outs in the
eighth inning. Mussina threw 65 of 96 pitches for strikes.
"He's not doing a high-wire act out there," Yankees manager
Joe Torre said. "He diffuses the situation whenever they try to
mount an attack. It takes the wind out of their sails."
Mariano Rivera got four outs for his first save of the season.
Mussina, the least-supported starter in the American League last
season, didn't get much offense from his new team either.
After Reichert retired the first two batters of the game,
O'Neill hit a 2-2 pitch into the right-field seats for his first
homer and the Yankees' fifth of the series.
"When you make 100 pitches in a game you're going to make one
or two mistakes," Reichert said. "That's how it goes. You can't
do anything about it."
New York barely threatened after that but didn't need to because
of Mussina.
After Royals starters Jeff Suppan and Blake Stein allowed 13
runs in 6 2/3 innings in the first two games, Reichert gave up just
four hits and one run in six innings.
Reichert was hit in the back of the right shoulder on a line
drive by Bernie Williams in the fourth inning but stayed in the
game.
Game notes
Royals 2B Carlos Febles missed the game after sustaining a
bruised right knee Wednesday in a collision with RF Jermaine Dye.
Dye, who bruised his nose, played DH. ... Kansas City's Joe Randa
went 0-for-3 against Mussina and is 2-for-25 in his career against
the right-hander. ... The game was played in 2 hours, 16 minutes.
... The Yankees had their first 1-0 win since Aug. 7, 1999, at
Seattle, and the first at home since July, 5, 1998, against
Baltimore.
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RECAPS
Toronto 11
Tampa Bay 0
Minnesota 9
Detroit 5
NY Yankees 1
Kansas City 0
Baltimore 2
Boston 1
Anaheim 10
Texas 3
Cincinnati 4
Pittsburgh 1
Chicago Cubs 2
Montreal 1
Colorado 11
St. Louis 2
NY Mets 7
Atlanta 1
Houston 8
Milwaukee 2
Los Angeles 7
Arizona 5
San Francisco 8
San Diego 2
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Mike Mussina shares the adjustments he had to make during his debut in pinstripes (Courtesy: MSG).
wav: 175 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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