By the time he toed the visitors' bullpen rubber at precisely 1:20 p.m., Mike Mussina had been called everything from a traitor to a pinko to a long-lost friend. And at precisely 4:51 p.m., before a sold-out Camden Yards, Mike Mussina was called the same thing he'd been labeled 147 times in a 10-year career with the Orioles: winning pitcher.
This time Mussina did it for the New York Yankees. This time he did it to the Orioles.
Mussina controlled his former team for seven innings of a 2-1 win that not only completed the Yankees' four-game sweep but also overshadowed meaningful accomplishments by Orioles starter Jason Johnson and third baseman Cal Ripken.
For the first time in Mussina's 295 career starts, the Orioles were on the receiving end of his dazzling five-pitch (or more) assortment. Scott Brosius' home run against reliever Mike Trombley (1-1) to lead off the eighth inning broke a 1-1 tie and made a winner of Mussina after he'd learned he had thrown his last pitch.
Mussina (3-3) survived his unprecedented mix of emotion. He took heat from some of the 47,740 who watched and was embraced by others. "I expected that. I didn't expect anything to come flying out of the stands," Mussina said. "I didn't expect anybody to be completely unruly. That is something I have never seen with these people in 10 years."
About half the crowd greeted Mussina with a standing ovation. The rest of the day was devoted to him sitting down ex-teammates.
"It was a little strange seeing him out on the hill, playing against him," said Ripken, himself recognized with a standing ovation between the first and second innings for breaking Brooks Robinson's franchise record for games played. "I have been trying to work on getting a swing -- a consistent swing -- the last couple games, and it felt pretty good. The knuckle-curve of his is like something I haven't seen."
"You watch the guy for 10 years and you still have no idea what pitch he's going to throw in a certain situation," right fielder Brady Anderson said admiringly.
The win was No. 150 of Mussina's career. It also left the Orioles with a five-game losing streak, a 13-19 record representing their first trip this season to six games below .500, and gave the Yankees their first four-game sweep in Baltimore since July 1996.
