By IAIN HIGGINS
Mike “Moose” Mussina never won a World Series. He never won a Cy Young Award, though he was a top-five finalist six times. He pitched five near-perfect games, at the Major-League level, yet he could never find perfection.
The 11th-round pick in the 1987 MLB draft did, though, cap his career with a spot in Cooperstown. On August 28, 1990, the future MLB Hall-of-Famer made his first Triple-A start with the Rochester Red Wings.
Mussina struck out nine over 6.1 innings as the Wings edged out the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons 3-2. Victor Hithe scored the winning run in the 10th inning as Jeff McKnight singled up the middle to drive him home.
Jeff Tackett’s fielder’s choice against Barons pitcher Todd Frohwirth tied the game in the ninth inning.
The Wings scored their first run in the second inning as Tony Chance and Brad Komminsk singled. Barons third baseman Keith Miller botched a throw, and Tackett brought home Chance with a base knock.
Mussina found himself in trouble in the top of the sixth as he walked Louie Meadows, who then stole second and went to third on catcher Tackett’s throwing error. Mussina came back with two strikeouts and a ground ball to keep the Wings’ 1-0 lead.
Rob Woodward pitched the 10th, allowing a single and a double but no runs. He fanned one Red Baron and earned the win.
Mussina was pulled after giving up two solo home runs in the seventh inning.
New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman once described Mussina as “a gamer, plain and simple.” A seven-time Gold Glove winner and a five-time All-Star with 2,813 career strikeouts (19th all-time) and 270 wins (33rd all-time) to his name, Mussina still holds the American League record for winning at least 11 games in 17 consecutive seasons. At his 2019 hall-of-fame induction he joked, “Maybe I was saving up from all of those ‘almost’ achievements for one last push, and this time I made it.”
Barons 2
Red Wings 3
| Scranton/W-B | AB | R | H | BI | Rochester | AB | R | H | BI | |
| Meadows lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Hithe cf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Morandini 2b | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Dulin 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Knbnshue cf | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | McKnight ss | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| S. Stnicek dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Gomez 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Miller 3b | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | Padget 1b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Jordan 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Chance lf | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Adducci rf | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Komminsk rf | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Heath ss | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | Tackett c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Agostnelli c | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | J. Bell dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rosario ss | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Nixon pr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Brown 3b | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Totals | 37 | 2 | 11 | 2 | Totals | 34 | 3 | 8 | 3 |
Scranton/W-B…000 000 200 0-2
Rochester……….010 000 001 1-3
E- Miller, Tackett; DP- Rochester 2; LOB- Scranton/W-B 7; Rochester 8; 2B- Morandini; HR- Miller (10), Adducci (6); SB- Morandini, Meadows; S- Dulin.
| Scranton/W-B | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Mauser | 7 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Noles | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| McElroy | 0.1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Frohwirth L, 9-7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Rochester | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Mussina | 6.1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 |
| Hickey | 2.2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Woodward W, 5-1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
HBP- Komminsk (by Frohwirth).
Time- 2:51; Attendance- 3,160.
Leave a Reply