Mussina Could Miss Chance At 20

Here at Hot Stove we have been paying much attention to Mike Mussina these past few weeks as the aging starter gets closer to winning 20 games for the first time in his career. He picked up win number 19 in his last start against the Blue Jays and should have a chance to get number 20 against the Red Sox on the final day of the season. The only problem is that Mussina might not be able to make the final start of the season. Mussina was hit on the elbow by a ball off the bat of Travis Snider with one out in the third inning. Manager Joe Girardi and trainer Gene Monahan came out to check on the pitcher. He took a couple of warm up tosses and stayed in the game. He finished the inning and even managed to pitch two more, but he had to leave the game after five innings and just 73 pitches. Mussina said he left in the fifth when his elbow stiffened and couldn't guarantee that he'd be good enough to pitch for a chance to win 20. "Now I gotta worry about if I can actually go out there," Mussina said. "We'll have to see how it feels in a couple of days." This sounds like bad news for Mussina. Even if he makes his next start a sore elbow could make his stuff less effective. Also he may not be able to pitch deep enough into the start as the elbow is likely to get tighter after every inning. On top of all of that he is going to be facing a tough offense in the Red Sox who he has a 1-2 record and a 4.57 ERA against. Although most of that was damage done by Manny Ramirez, but Mussina has never faced Jason Bay who has a .910 OPS since joining Boston. Although he my luck out and face a team who could be resting their starters the day the final season ends. Even then Mussina's chances at winning 20 have taken a severe downturn. Still gives me a reason to watch the Yankees on an otherwise meaningless day.