Mussina Defeats Some Old Teammates

On a day in which Cal Ripken was saluted for playing more games with the Baltimore Orioles than anyone else, Mike Mussina felt odd facing his former team for the first time.

Mussina, who left Baltimore as a free agent in November, gave up one run in seven innings Sunday to help the New York Yankees complete a four-game sweep with a 2-1 victory at Baltimore.

Scott Brosius hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning, his third home run of the series, to provide Mussina with an emotional and hard-earned victory.

Walking to the mound from the visiting dugout at Camden Yards was a weird sensation said Mussina, as was pitching to former teammates.

“The first hitter, Brady’s [Anderson is] up there, Cal came up, guys I played quite a bit of time with. It was odd, and I expected it to be that way,” Mussina said.

Ripken was playing in his 2,897th game with the Orioles.

“He’s someone I looked up to,” Ripken said. “It was strange seeing him out there, going up against him after all the years that we’ve been teammates.”

Mussina spent 10 years with the Orioles before signing a six-year, $88.5-million contract with New York. Upon his return, the right-hander experienced something he became familiar with during his final season with Baltimore--poor run support.

Mussina (3-3) gave up only four hits through six innings but trailed, 1-0. The Yankees finally broke through against Baltimore starter Jason Johnson in the seventh, drawing even with two singles and Jorge Posada’s sacrifice fly.

Mussina worked out of trouble in the bottom half, then moved into position for the win when Brosius connected on the fifth pitch from Mike Trombley (1-1).

Mussina gave up six hits and two walks, striking out three. Mike Stanton worked the eighth, and Mariano Rivera got three outs for his ninth save in 10 tries.

As Mussina hustled to the mound in the bottom of the first, a portion of the sellout crowd--many wearing Yankee colors--stood and applauded.

“He’s never been on that mound when he wasn’t in a Baltimore uniform, and I think he handled the situation well,” New York Manager Joe Torre said.

Boston 5, Oakland 4--Jose Offerman and Troy O’Leary hit home runs to account for Boston’s five-run fifth inning, and Pedro Martinez gave up one run in seven innings at Oakland.

Offerman’s three-run shot was his third home run of the season and second in as many games. O’Leary hit a two-run home run. Martinez (4-0) gave up one run and four hits, and struck out six.

Toronto 11, Seattle 3--Darrin Fletcher’s first two home runs of the season were among five hit by the Blue Jays at Seattle, as they handed the Mariners their first series loss.

Seattle had won a franchise-high nine consecutive series to open the season before dropping two of three games to Toronto.

Fletcher had his eighth career multi home run game, while Raul Mondesi, Tony Batista, and Brad Fullmer also homered for the Blue Jays.

Minnesota 4, Kansas City 2--Brad Radke scattered seven hits over 8 1/3 innings at Kansas City, Mo., to become the first six-game winner in the majors. Luis Rivas had three hits, including a home run, for Minnesota.

Radke (6-0) lowered his earned-run average to 2.22, which ranks second in the AL. He struck out five and walked none.

Cleveland 10, Tampa Bay 3--Marty Cordova’s two-run double off Doug Creek (1-1) ended an eighth-inning tie at St. Petersburg, Fla., and the Indians won their eighth consecutive game.

The victory finished a 6-0 trip that began in Kansas City and gave Cleveland its first two-city road sweep since 1979.

Chicago 10, Texas 5--Ray Durham and Jose Valentin had RBI singles in a four-run seventh inning at Arlington, Texas. With Texas leading, 4-3, the White Sox rallied in the seventh inning against Kenny Rogers (1-3) with help from two errors by first baseman Rafael Palmeiro on the same play.