Wang relieves Mussina before he starts ... huh?

Mike Mussina was originally scheduled to start Game 4 tonight.

He basically did, just an inning late.

That's because the Yankees had such low confidence in the Moose that they rushed Game 1 starter Chien-Ming Wang back out onto the mound on short rest.

Wang got knocked around like a pinata in Game 1.

Same thing started to happen tonight, with two runs surrendered in the first, and two more given up by the "ace" without making an out in the second.

So that plan was scratched on the fly, and now Mussina is in the game.

Wang's 2007 playoffs work is likely done, and he finishes the job with a stellar 19.67 postseason ERA.

Oh, the Yankees and the playoffs ... priceless.

Because he looked so good in Game 1

NEW YORK (AP) - Chien-Ming Wang appears to be the Yankees' likely starting pitcher Monday night if New York forces its series against the Indians to a fourth game.
Yankees manager Joe Torre said Saturday that Mike Mussina would be available in relief on Sunday night should Roger Clemens falter. Mussina also would have followed Luis Vizcaino had Friday's 2-1, 11-inning loss gone much longer.
Wang has started on less than four days' rest just once, allowing one hit in seven innings to beat the Orioles on June 6 last year. That outing came three days after he got the final two outs and a save in a 10-inning win at Baltimore.
Wang's sinker was up against Cleveland in the series opener, when he matched his career high by allowing eight runs in a 12-3 loss.
Pitching Wang in Game 4 lines up Andy Pettitte to pitch a potential fifth game. Roger Clemens joked about the way his buddy pitched out of trouble to throw 6 1-3 scoreless innings in Game 2.
"I told Andy he looked great from the stretch since he was in it all night," Clemens said.
Pettitte has a $16 million player option for next year and will need to speak with his family before deciding whether to exercise it. The status of Torre, in the final year of his contract, also will play a part in his decision.
"That definitely would be something that I would factor in," Pettitte said.

It's almost over

Yankees "ace" and one-time Cy Young contender Chien-Ming Wang looked awful last night as he was pounded by Indians hitters, but a bigger key to the series is the Yankees' quiet bats.
Three runs of offense isn't going to be enough in Game 3 with Clemens on the mound, and certainly not when the Yankees hand Mike Mussina the ball in Game 4.
It's a five-game series, remember, so that's enough to send the Yankees home for the year, and Joe Torre off into retirement (or a job coaching the Kansas City Royals).

Every Yankee Wang suck tonight

Chien-Ming Wang put all talk of contention for the Cy Young Award to rest with his miserable performance against the Red Sox yesterday.
With Wang's stats - if not the sense that he can dominate batters - similar to Josh Beckett and a few others in the American League going into the weekend, there was a strong sense that the Cy Young was up for grabs and that pitching over the last few weeks of the regular season would be the difference-maker.
Yesterday's game was perhaps the marquee showcase as Beckett and Wang went head to head.
Beckett allowed only 3 hits and 1 run over 7 innings, striking out 7 and walking 2.
Wang lasted only 5 2/3rds, giving up 9 hits, 5 runs and 3 walks while striking out 3.
His ERA is up to 3.87, while Beckett has a 3.20 ERA and has a good shot of winning his 20th game before the regular season ends, by far a career best.

Wounded

Oops, A-Rod's got a boo-boo.
And so does Wang.