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Damon, Mussina pace Yankees past Mariners

BY ANTHONY RIEBER | anthony.rieber@newsday.com

May 4, 2008

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Johnny Damon has been waiting for the weather to heat up so he can heat up at the plate. But the thermometer isn't cooperating - unless yesterday's game-time temperature of 52 is really the new 72.

So Damon decided to ignore temperature readings and wind chill measurements and keep the Doppler in the bat rack. Instead, he's concentrating on numbers such as .197 and .413 and 6-1.

The first number is what Damon's batting average was entering April 20. The second is his batting average since. The third is the score of the Yankees' win over the Mariners yesterday at Yankee Stadium, a win built by the bat of Damon and the right arm of Mike Mussina.

Damon went 3-for-5 with two doubles, an upper-deck two-run home run and three runs scored to support Mussina (4-3, 4.23 ERA), who pitched six solid innings to win for the third straight start.

"It's been cold," Damon said. "The longer we can keep the other team out on the field, the better we're going to be. And the quicker we can get back in [the dugout] is a plus."

Here's another number the Yankees like: .500. They're 16-16 after their second win in a row following three straight losses. A bad showing this weekend against Seattle could have brought a true sense of panic to the Bronx, especially after Hank Steinbrenner's comments to the AP on Friday that he was "very disappointed with the way this season has gone, period."

Steinbrenner did not return calls seeking comment yesterday. Chances are The Baby Boss was feeling better after the Yankees twice beat the Mariners, a team truly in turmoil.

Seattle (13-18) has lost four in a row despite a shakeup in which top prospects Jeff Clement and Wladimir Balentien were called up and put in the lineup. After screaming at his team in a tirade that could be heard outside the clubhouse, manager John McLaren said: "We can't hit for them. It's up to them. We put their names in the lineup and it's up to them to hit."

They didn't hit much Friday against Chien-Ming Wang and the Yankees' "A" relievers in a 5-1 loss. Nor did they hit much yesterday against Mussina and "B" relievers LaTroy Hawkins, Edwar Ramirez and Jose Veras.

"He was just great," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Mussina. He said the same thing about Damon. Both veterans are trying to prove themselves after subpar 2007s.

For Mussina, it's about showing he's not done at 39. "I had a tough year last year," said Mussina, who allowed a run and seven hits with no walks and five strikeouts in career win No. 254. "I just wanted to come out this year and probably prove to myself more than anything that I can still be competitive at this level."

For Damon, it's about showing he's still a top leadoff man. "Like I said during spring training, I've got a lot to go out there and prove," said Damon, who is hitting .290 with four homers and 14 RBIs. "I consider myself a pretty good player in the league and I just don't want people to forget about that."

Damon got it started in the first and third innings with doubles, one to right-center and one to left-center. In the first, he scored on Bobby Abreu's single for a 1-0 lead. After the Mariners tied it in the third on Ichiro Suzuki's RBI single, Damon doubled with one out and scored on Derek Jeter's double.

The Yankees made it 4-1 later in the third on two-out RBI singles by Hideki Matsui and Melky Cabrera. They went ahead 6-1 in the sixth on Damon's upper-deck homer off Felix Hernandez (2-2, 3.04).

Mussina, meanwhile, was mixing up his fastball and breaking pitches and keeping the Mariners off stride. He finished his day by getting three swinging strikeouts in the sixth, his last pitch an 89-mph fastball thrown right past Richie Sexson.

"I cut it loose!" Mussina joked. "Eighty-nine!"

That's a number the Yankees like, too.

14 down, 67 to go

The magic number of regular-season games remaining at Yankee Stadium is 67.

Performing the honors of changing the number on the scoreboard after the top of the fifth inning yesterday was the U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute team.

Also flipping the switch during this homestand were Al Leiter, Billy Crystal, Ron Blomberg and Bobby Murcer.