Mike Mussina

Mike Mussina wasn't disappointed about not getting a perfect game after retiring the first 16 batters--not after his previous Fenway Park appearance last summer. "I've been within a strike, so I've got to be pretty close to be upset about it," he said after the New York Yankees ended a four-game losing streak with a 6-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday. Last Sept.

Mike Mussina wasn't quite perfect in his return from the disabled list. His timing, however, could not have been better. Mussina gave up two hits over 7 2/3 innings Sunday as the Baltimore Orioles defeated Minnesota, 2-0, at Baltimore to win their first series in three weeks. Baltimore had floundered without its ace, sidelined since a wart on his right index finger cracked open against the Chicago White Sox on April 16. The Orioles were desperate for a victory, and Mussina delivered.

Mike Mussina gave up two runs and six hits over seven innings to become the first 12-game winner in the major leagues as the Orioles defeated the Chicago White Sox, 4-3, at Baltimore to move past New York into sole possession of second place in the AL East, 4 1/2 games behind Boston. "I think everybody seems to be surprised about it," Mussina said about his 12-5 record, which includes a 7-0 mark in eight starts since June 18.

The Baltimore Orioles aren't as intimidating offensively as they were in 1996, when Brady Anderson was threatening Roger Maris' home run record and Manager Davey Johnson could field a September lineup in which all nine starters had 20 home runs or more. "But did you see their pitching stats?" Angel Manager Terry Collins gushed before Friday night's game. "Wow!"

There were the customary quips in the Baltimore Orioles' postgame clubhouse about Mike Mussina perhaps needing to find a higher league in which to pitch. There were the obligatory raves coming from down the hall in the Minnesota Twins' locker room. There was Oriole Manager Johnny Oates shrugging his shoulders and conceding that, all of 50 games into Mussina's major league career, he's exhausted all of the superlatives in praising his prodigious right-hander.

Not much has gone according to plan for the Baltimore Orioles in the early weeks of the season, but one thing hasn't changed. Right-hander Mike Mussina remains one of the top pitchers in baseball. That never was more apparent than Wednesday, when Mussina held the Minnesota Twins to two hits in a 3-0 victory at Minneapolis. The Twins didn't need to be reminded. They witnessed a similar performance last week, when Mussina held them to five hits during an 11-0 victory at Baltimore.

It didn't look like the ideal time for Mike Mussina to end his slump. The former Stanford pitcher, who has been a major factor in the Baltimore Orioles' emergence as the most improved team in the American League, won only once in his previous five starts. Moreover, he was facing All-Star starter Kevin Brown at Arlington, Tex., Friday night and the Texas Rangers' pitcher was trying to become the first 15-game winner. He had won five in a row. But it was Mussina who took charge.

As the American League closed in on a 9-3 victory over the National in Tuesday night's 64th All-Star game, it wasn't enough for a crowd of 48,147, the largest yet at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. A chant of "we want Mike" provided a ninth-inning backdrop, and Mike Piazza knew it wasn't for him.

When Mike Mussina walks into a downtown restaurant, there's no buzz, no head-turning, often no recognition that one of baseball's best pitchers is about to sit down. Think that's unusual? The reaction isn't much different when Mussina strolls through the Orioles' clubhouse. He'll nod at his teammates, chat with them, maybe joke around a little bit. But he's hardly the center of attention, which suits him just fine. All of Mussina's teammates respect him, but few know him well.