Game 116 notes: Yankees win 11-2

Mike Mussina was dealing and Alex Rodriguez hit two more home runs. It was another ho-hum game for the New York Yankees Saturday night, as they beat the Cleveland Indians by a score of 11-2.

Mussina (8-7) gave up two earned runs over 7 2-3 innings, the most he's pitched all season. He also struck out six batters and didn't walk any. Out of his 89 pitches, only 20 went for balls.

Rodriguez's two home runs give him 39 on the season and his four RBIs leave him at 114 (he had 121 all of last season. It is August 11, by the way).

Paul Byrd (10-5) started for the Indians and did not last long. He gave up seven earned runs in two innings. He had a relatively easy first inning but fell apart in the second inning when the Indians gave him a 1-0 lead.

Some notes from the game:

• The victory was Mussina's 100th as a New York Yankee.
  
• All of the Yankees' starters had at least one hit. Jason Giambi came off the bench and hit a pinch-hit solo home run.
• The first five Yankees hitters (Johnny Damon, Derek Jeter, Bobby Abreu, Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui) went 11-27 with two home runs and eight RBIs. All had at least two hits as well.
  
• Jose Molina went 4-5. This was his first four-hit game of his career.
• Melky Cabrera went 1-4. He now has a 16-game hitting streak.
• Luis Vizcaino pitched 1-3 of an inning. He hadn't pitched since August 6.

The Yankees are now 65-51. They remain five games behind Boston in the AL East. They also remain tied with Seattle for the wild-card lead, as Seattle hung on to beat Chicago tonight.

Tomorrow, Andy Pettitte will face Jake Westbrook, as the Yankees look to sweep Cleveland for the season.

(AP Photo/Mark Duncan)