Liveblog: Yankees vs. Angels 5/27/07

Lineups

Angels (30-20)
Reggie Willits - LF
Orlando Cabrera - SS
Vladimir Guerrero - DH
Gary Matthews Jr. - CF
Casey Kotchman - 1B
Howie Kendrick - 2B
Mike Napoli - C
Robb Quinlan - RF
Chone Figgins - 3B

John Lackey - RHP (7-3, 2.38 ERA)

Yankees (21-26)
Melky Cabrera - CF
Derek Jeter - SS
Hideki Matsui - LF
Alex Rodriguez - 3B
Jason Giambi - DH
Robinson Cano - 2B
Bobby Abreu - RF
Doug Mientkiewicz - 1B
Wil Nieves - C

Mike Mussina - RHP (2-3, 6.52 ERA)

Time: 1:05 PM
TV: YES
Radio: WCBS 880 AM

Pregame concerns: The bottom three of the Yankees' lineup is inept. ... Mussina is what is preventing the Yankees from being swept in this series. In his last start against Boston on Tuesday, his fastball did not go above 88 mph. ... In 46 at-bats against Mussina, Shea Hillenbrand is batting .326 with 3 HR and 8 RBI. I wonder why he's not in the lineup today. Figgins is 8-16 against Mussina. However, Guerrero is only 4-21 against the Moose. I'm sure those numbers will get better today.

Prediction: Yankees fall behind early and don't recover. They lose like 8-2 or something.

1:10 p.m.: Moose throws all fastballs to Willits leading off. The fastest pitch was a 3-2 87 mph pitch down and away that Willits whiffed at.

1:17 p.m.: Mussina strikes out the side. He got Willits swinging, Cabrera looking, and Guerrero swinging.

1:47 p.m.: Do my eyes deceive me? Nieves hits an RBI single over Figgins' head. He is now 2-28 on the season. 1-0 Yankees.

1:52 p.m.: Jeter was hitting .609 with runners in scoring position and two outs before flying out to Matthews Jr.

2:20 p.m.: Nieves gets hit second RBI single of the day after a good acting job by Mientkiewicz. The ball bounced right in front of his foot and started jumping around pretending that he got hit by the pitch. 2-0 Yankees.

2:34 p.m.: Mussina has a penchant for giving up runs right after the Yankees score. A hard hit ball went off his glove and into center field and then a bloop went over Cano's head. After Kendrick grounded into a double play, Napoli singled in a run. After Quinlan singled Napoli over to third, Mussina was able to strike out Figgins. 2-1 Yankees going to the bottom of the fifth.

2:58 p.m.: Mussina is coming out of the game after walking Kotchman. He pitched 6 1-3 innings, struck out six, and walked one. The Namesake is in the game now.

3:13 p.m.: Scott Proctor comes in, loads the bases, and just walked in the tying run. Mussina did not need to be taken out after surrendering a one out walk. Proctor just walked in another run. 3-2 Angels. Now Joe Torre is going to Brian Bruney. Great decision to take out Mussina.

3:20 p.m.: Bruney gives up a sacrifice fly and Erick Aybar was tagged out in a rundown. 4-2 Angels going to the bottom of the seventh.

3:33 p.m.: Nieves walks and Jeter doubles. Two on, two out for Matsui. He grounds out to first. Going to the top of the eighth, 4-2 Angels.

3:35 p.m.: You know it's a bad game when Nieves is a player of the game nominee on YES.

3:49 p.m.: Giambi is 3-49. Lackey has gone through eight innings, holding the Yankees to two runs.

4:17 p.m.: The Yankees decide to wake up for the ninth inning. They scratch across a run off Francisco Rodriguez before Jeter flew out to end the game. Rodriguez, of course, celebrated like he had never saved a game before. Yankees lose 4-3.

Game recap to come eventually.