It was shaping up to be a good day for the Yanks.  Mike Mussina struck out the first four batters of the game and backup catcher Wil Nieves drove in the first two Yankee runs.

But, this is the 2007 Yankees and, so far, nothing has gone well.

Mussina pitched well, but was pulled with one out in the seventh after throwing only 95 pitches and Scott Proctor couldn't record an out as the Angels rallied past the Yankees, 4-3, to sweep the weekend series.  The Yanks mounted a rally against closer Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth, but Jeter flew out with the tying run at third to end the game.

The Good:

Wil Nieves.  Nieves had his best day in pinstripes.  He was perfect at the plate as he finished 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs and a walk.  He also made some nice stops behind the plate and threw out two would-be base stealers at second.

Mike Mussina.  Mussina was dealing early and looked destined to pick up the win.  His fastball was still missing some of the usual mustard, but he was spotting it well.  But, Mussina was pulled after giving up a walk to Casey Kotchman with one out in the seventh.  Strange move by Torre.  Michael Kay and Ken Singleton speculated that maybe Torre wanted to take Mussina out while he still had a chance to win it and not lose it.  Has it come down to this?  Is Mussina that fragile?  I hope not.  Mussina's ND looked like this: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K.

The Bad:

Scott Proctor.  Proctor came in for Mussina in the seventh and completely crapped the bed.  With a runner on first, Proctor gave up a double and then three straight walks.  Proctor has been solid, but this was his most disappointing outing.  His record dropped to 0-2 with this performance: 0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 3 BB.

Hideki Matsui.  Matsui is beginning to fall into some bad habits at the plate.  He finished 0 for 4 and is trying to pull every outside pitch.  He usually falls into this phase a few times a year, but it really hurts with the way the Yanks are playing right now.

The Ugly:

Jason Giambi.  Not only has Giambi started to grow the ugly mustache again, but he is in a horrendous slump right now.  He went 0 for 4 today, striking out twice, and is 3 for his last 44.  Hope the 'stache helps.

This ends the Yankees 9 game stretch against three first place teams.  How did they fair?  Well, they lost two of three to the Mets, took two of three from the Red Sox and were swept by the Angels.  Add it up and you'll get a record of 3-6.  Pretty poor.  The loss also drops the Yanks six games under .500 on the season.

The Yankees will pack up and head out for a 10 game road trip which will take them through Toronto, Boston and Chicago.  

If they don't start playing better, they could be packing up this season.