Nova's raising bar on his season

When Ivan Nova left his Dominican Republic home last winter, set for his first spring training as a prospective big-leaguer, his family members laid out their expectations for him.

"They told me they just want 10 [wins]," Nova revealed late Wednesday night. "They said that, as a rookie, in this division, ten games is a lot.

"I don't think it's a lot. I want more."

Well, what a coincidence. Just as Nova has raised the bar for himself, so have the Yankees for him. And the more you watch him pitch, the more you think he just might be able to hit his new mark.

Nova, with assists from Rafael Soriano, Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano, led the Yankees to a 9-3 victory over the Angels at Yankee Stadium, halting his club's two-game losing streak and propelling the Yankees (70-45) seven games over the Angels (54-53), eight in the loss column, in the race for the American League wild card.

The victory, accomplished on a night when Nova didn't have his best stuff, particularly his strikeout-delivering slider, raised the righthander's record to 11-4. We're not at all strong advocates here of the won-loss record as a good measure, but any rookie with 11 victories has to be doing something right. Especially when his family would've settled for 10.

Before the game, Joe Girardi said that Nova wouldn't be pitching for a spot in the Yankees' crowded starting rotation. That he'd get another turn no matter what. The manager wants to thin out the rotation from six to five, and right now, the two most logical candidates to go are the inconsistent Phil Hughes and the exasperating A.J. Burnett. In a just world, Burnett would get the hook, but Hughes' experience as a reliever might steer him toward the bullpen.

More important, however, is that Nova get serious consideration for a playoff start, and it appears he will. The Yankees are intoxicated by the 24-year-old's potential.

Nova showed off a new attribute Wednesday. Pegged earlier this season as someone who would unravel on his third trip through a lineup, he could've fallen to pieces as soon as he realized he didn't have his best stuff. Instead, he largely ditched the slider and leaned heavily on his four-seam fastball to generate groundouts. Even though he struck out zero, a remarkable 14 of his 18 outs came on the ground.

"Stuff-wise, this is the least good stuff he's had," Nova's catcher Russell Martin said.

Echoed Girardi: "When you don't have your good stuff and you can do that, that's a sign of maturity." It's also a sign of durability, an attribute the Yankees sorely need. Before this game, the last Yankees starting pitcher to make it into the seventh inning was . . . Nova, in his start at the White Sox last Thursday.

"He has been one of our five best guys," Girardi said. "I think if you look at his body of work the last three months, he's been really, really good."

"OK, let's look. Since his May 6 start, totaling 14 major-league starts, Nova has a 3.42 ERA in 841/3 innings. Add in a 3.38 ERA in 16 innings for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, when a roster logjam sent him down a level, and that's some pretty good pitching.

Nova didn't want to engage on the topic of a postseason start. "My mind is [focused] on what I have to do in five days," he said.

That's the right attitude. Nevertheless, it wouldn't hurt his family to start thinking about October. The Yankees would encourage the Novas to set the goal a little higher this time.