Some Moose tracking

Did Mussina bag an All-Star nod?

Mike Mussina bumps into catcher Jose Molina while catching a popup hit by the Red Sox' Alex Cora in the fifth inning. (Julie Jacobson/Associated Press)

NEW YORK - When you think about it, his career has existed on the borderline.

Will Mike Mussina make the All-Star team?

Will Mike Mussina make the Hall of Fame?

Yesterday it was, will Mike Mussina get the win in a game he left after six innings because of light-headedness?

The answer to that one, after a crazy ninth inning that Mussina watched first from a horizontal position, and then from an upright one in the players' lounge, was yes, when New York held on for a 2-1 triumph over the Red Sox.

The answer to the All-Star question, after Mussina won his 11th game of the season with six shutout innings, will come today when the American and National League teams are announced.

If the Moose needed a game to put him over the borderline, this was it. If he needed to impress Terry Francona, the AL manager, well, he couldn't have done it much better. And what a thing it would be to have Mussina, a five-time All-Star, in the game at Yankee Stadium, which would be his first appearance in nine years.

What an accomplishment it would be for Mussina, now with 261 career wins, to make another All-Star team and add to his already lofty credentials.

"Maybe I left an impression," said Mussina. "I've always felt that a lot [more] guys earn it than there are spots on the team. You can go through both leagues . . . you could make a second All-Star team because there are that many guys who deserve that. If I get a chance to go, it would be great. If not, I'll just go to the county fair."

Mussina said he started feeling light-headed in the sixth inning but got through it. Once he got to the dugout, he informed manager Joe Girardi, "I'm not feeling so good." In his younger days he might have pitched through it but Mussina reasoned, "It's too important of a game to go out there and be some kind of hero."

His 11 wins are the most in his career at the All-Star break since 2002, when he was 12-3. He's won 10 of his last 14 starts and he beat the Sox for the first time since June 5, 2006, at Yankee Stadium, breaking a six-start winless streak (0-3) in which he had a 7.71 ERA.

"I didn't start this year with a plan to make the All-Star team," he said. "I haven't made it for nine years . . . you get kind of used to not going to the All-Star Game. The first three years I played in the big leagues I went three years so I got used to going. When you are my age and you've had struggles and it's a challenge one year to the next, not sure if you're even considered to be part of the team, honestly it doesn't matter. I'm just thrilled that I've contributed 11 wins already."

The man the Sox lost out on the same year they signed Manny Ramírez has downplayed how much an All-Star berth would mean. Girardi, who has had several discussions with Francona about the makeup of the team, said, "It would mean a lot to him."

Mussina is not in "I told you so" mode.

"I'm not out for redemption, revenge, or anything else," he said. "I'm just playing and just enjoying being able to go out there 100 percent and do what I did before. There were lot of plans for the young guys, and when there are six starters in camp, you know that they're looking at other people. I didn't know what I was going to be able to do."

So what's changed?

"I think because I'm healthy it's allowed me to make changes," he said. "My velocity is up 2 or 3 miles an hour now since the season started. Whether they're turning the gun up for me to make me feel better, I don't know. But I'm able to do things this year that I couldn't do last year and that I wasn't doing for the first handful of starts this season.

"You make adjustments or they find someone else to get the job done. Fortunately, I've been able to make changes for quite a few years and I'm still pitching.

"When you're older," he added, "the injuries and nagging things last longer, cause more trouble. Last year was just one thing after another. Last year things just snowballed, and this year I've been healthy the whole time. You watch veteran players when they're healthy, they can still go out and play the game."

As he rested in the players' lounge watching Mariano Rivera have a tough time in the ninth, he popped up to watch Rivera wriggle out of a bases-loaded jam. He said he wasn't thinking, "Oh, my gosh, we're going to lose a third straight to the Red Sox." He just wasn't believing what he was watching.

"I was concerned," Mussina said. "It was 2-1 with the bases loaded. [Rivera] was missing by a foot and he usually misses by an inch. He's hitting people, just stuff that usually doesn't happen to Mo. But it's satisfying, sure, to win it. It's Boston-Yankees. It's a big win for all of us."

Probably a big win for Mussina.

Maybe, just maybe, it got him over the borderline.

Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com.