Notes: Out of left field, Betemit is busy

Notes: Out of left field, Betemit is busy
Mussina 'awful,' but his arm is fine; Henn saves the bullpen
By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

ANAHEIM -- The Yankees had a pretty good idea of what Wilson Betemit might offer, part of the reason that he merited pursuit leading up to two consecutive trade deadlines.

After getting their man on the second try, the Yankees have been happy to see their scouting pay off. The 25-year-old has driven in 15 runs through his first 34 at-bats and, as a bonus, has taken well to first base. He earned another start on Wednesday.

"We know what he has," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "We know he has the ability to get your attention as a hitter. He's gotten some big hits for us in the few times that he's played. I think he's a real plus for this organization."

Betemit's 13th home run of the year -- and third as a Yankee -- came in the ninth inning Tuesday, with an 18-9 blowout loss at Angel Stadium reaching conclusion. The swings meant little in the course of the outcome, but the Yankees have had to find ways to keep Betemit sharp -- an effort he has been pleasantly surprised by.

Coming over from the Dodgers on July 31, Betemit said he was unsure of how much playing time the Yankees would be able to offer him, especially since his primary position -- third base -- was manned by All-Star Alex Rodriguez, in the midst of a banner season.

"I didn't [know] how much time I would play here," Betemit said. "But I've been playing almost three times a week. To get that much playing time in here, I didn't know that. I knew I wouldn't play every day because they've got guys like A-Rod and Derek Jeter. Those guys have to play every day."

But Betemit has found opportunities at first base, joining a heavily populated mix that continues to include Andy Phillips as well as occasional appearances by Jason Giambi and Shelley Duncan. Torre pointed out that Betemit has been among the more frequent workers in early batting practice, practicing and moving about the bag.

"Right now, I know it's much better," Betemit said. "It feels good. I'm doing it right now, and that's what I have to do -- go out there and swing my bat, play my defense and play hard."

That ethic is serving to help his versatility in what could progress to be a true utility role or even a starting slot down the road. Already, Betemit has played five positions as a Yankee, including two of them for the first time in the big leagues -- first base and left field.

"He can do a lot of things and he's not afraid to work," Torre said. "We've had him out here. He feels he needs to learn and he has to do it. It's nice to have that attitude to go along with the fact that he's going to be part of this organization's future."

Give it an A-Rest: Torre had toyed with the idea of benching Rodriguez for the series finale against the Angels on Wednesday, citing that his energy appeared to be dragging, but three home runs in two games here reversed that in a hurry.

"It was just something we played with and never really made a decision on," Torre said.

Torre said that the Yankees' off-day Thursday could suffice for Rodriguez, who led the Major Leagues with 42 home runs entering Wednesday. Having already lost the first two games against the Angels, the Yankees need their heavy hitters for the potential playoff run.

Checking in: Mike Mussina called his start Tuesday "awful," allowing seven runs in 1 2/3 innings, and Torre checked in with the right-hander the day after to make sure there were no further developments that needed attention.

Torre said he ascertained that the right-hander had two good bullpen sessions leading into his two poor starts, leading the Yankees to believe that injury is not the issue.

"His arm feels so good," Torre said. "That's what's so frustrating for him. He doesn't remember the last time he's ever walked two guys in a row in the first inning."

Mussina will have another start on Monday and, leading up to it, the club will watch his side sessions closely to place the root of the problem.

"He knows the game he pitched yesterday; we need better than that," Torre said. "He's not ignoring that fact. Hopefully the extra day [of rest] does something for him and he can be more of the guy that we think he could be."

Bullet boy: Left-hander Sean Henn helped save the Yankees' bullpen for Wednesday night, soaking up three innings on an evening when he originally wasn't even supposed to pitch after getting up three times on Monday.

Though Torre credited Henn with "taking a bullet," Henn shrugged off the credit. The five runs the Angels scored off Henn on Tuesday likely took some of the shine away.

"Somebody's going to have to do it," Henn said. "I'm here to pitch. Anytime they ask me if I want to go another one (inning), I'm going to say yes, unless I just can't."

With Mussina out of answers in the second inning, Henn said the Yankees' relievers knew they were in for a heavy workload. The fact that they made it through 20 outs without spoiling Kyle Farnsworth, Luis Vizcaino, Joba Chamberlain or Mariano Rivera for Wednesday's finale was crucial.

"You're really looking for double plays and things like that to help the starter out," Henn said. "You're really just hoping he gets through an inning, and hopefully it clicks for him. We knew that we were already short [for the middle innings]. There's days like that."

Bombers bits: Mussina's 1 2/3-inning start on Tuesday was his shortest since Sept. 27, 2005, at Baltimore, also 1 2/3 innings. ... Rodriguez (506 homers) has passed Eddie Murray for sole possession of 21st place on the all-time list. ... Robinson Cano is in a 5-for-30 (.167) skid, while Melky Cabrera is 4-for-32 (.154).

Coming up: Following an off-day Thursday, the Yankees open a four-game series with the Tigers on Friday in Detroit. Roger Clemens (5-5, 3.92 ERA) makes his 14th start for New York and will go for his third straight victory, opposed by left-hander Andrew Miller. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. ET on My9.

Mussina sets tone in humbling loss

Mussina sets tone in humbling loss

Out by second, veteran puts Yankees in insurmountable hole

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

ANAHEIM -- Mike Mussina led a parade of Yankees pitchers into the path of Garret Anderson's career night. Some three hours later, it ended with a deflating 18-9 Yankees loss to the Angels on Tuesday.

Anderson hit a grand slam and a three-run homer as part of a four-hit, 10-RBI night, serving as the Angels' most damaging offensive performer. The home team called it a historic night, scoring its highest total of runs in a game against the Yankees, while Mussina simply called it "awful."

"It's tough to take," Mussina said. "I think that was in the top-five worst games of my career, right there. When you can't throw strikes, it really hurts. When I was throwing strikes, they were hitting them."

The Yankees fell six games behind the Red Sox in the American League East and lost a game on the Mariners in the AL Wild Card pursuit, falling 2 1/2 back of Seattle.

Mussina endured his shortest career start as a Yankee, battered for seven runs in 1 2/3 innings, his quickest hook since 1995. The early exit forced him to watch from the clubhouse for most of the fireworks -- quite literally, as the California night sky was illuminated by red sparks shooting from beyond the center-field rock pile.

"It never looked like he got into a rhythm," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "It was the same story. He's such a touch-and-feel guy that when he can't put the ball where he wants to, he gets frustrated by it. That's what I saw."

Anderson's two-run double in the first brought home the Angels' first runs and put him on his way to coming within one RBI of the American League record of 11 in one game, set by the Yankees' Tony Lazzeri in 1936.

Mussina faced eight batters in the second, allowing five runs on five hits in that inning before handing the ball off to reliever Ron Villone.

After a string of four consecutive victories, Mussina has now been hit hard in his last two starts. He was looking to rebound from a season-high seven runs allowed in an Aug. 16 loss to the Tigers and said he felt good in his pregame bullpen session on Tuesday, though obviously the results were anything but acceptable.

"I try not to get too caught up in believing things are going to be one way and that they're going to stay that way for a long time," Mussina said. "This game isn't like that. We all go on hot streaks and we go on bad streaks. Just because you're going good for a while doesn't make the bad times any better."

Asked about the possibility of an injury hampering his performance, Mussina said that there is nothing wrong with him except that he was unable to throw the ball where he wanted.

Likewise, Torre dismissed the idea that Mussina may be masking something, saying, "There's nothing that I know is physically wrong with him."

"Hopefully, there isn't anything wrong," Torre said. "Obviously, with the last couple of starts, I know he concerns himself with it. We certainly do."

The Yankees briefly surged to make the game closer, putting up four runs in the third inning against Angels right-hander Kelvim Escobar.

"We're not going to stop playing," Torre said. "It's just that what we do is going to be based on how we pitch. Tonight, we didn't pitch well."

The Angels greeted Villone rudely when he opened the fourth, as the left-hander did not retire a batter and had to be relieved after allowing a bases-loaded walk to Chone Figgins, accounting for one of four runs Villone was charged with.

"It was the beginning of an ugly night," Villone said. "It could have been stopped if I'd come back and had a good inning. It's ultimately just a bad start to the possibility of us getting back on top."

Edwar Ramirez, twice released by the Angels organization in 2003 and 2005, made his first Anaheim appearance against his old club and surrendered a three-run homer to Anderson in a two-inning appearance, though one of the runs was charged to Villone.

Sean Henn, who was originally thought to be unavailable due to numerous warmup sessions in Monday's loss, volunteered for three innings of relief duty and allowed five runs, including a grand slam to Anderson that drew a curtain call for the Angels outfielder in the sixth.

Henn's performance may have staved off a possible roster move for the Yankees, who could have been left short-handed in the bullpen for Wednesday's series finale. Luis Vizcaino threw 17 pitches in the eighth, and the Yankees were able to keep rookie Joba Chamberlain out of action.

"[Henn] took a bullet for us today," Torre said.

Alex Rodriguez's 41st and 42nd home runs, solo shots off Escobar in the second inning and off Marc Gwyn in the ninth, were reduced to footnotes by the blowout final. Escobar went six innings for the victory, allowing five runs and striking out seven.

Wilson Betemit hit a three-run homer and Bobby Abreu drove in two runs for the Yankees, who have lost six of their eight games against the Angels this season.