May 26 Notebook contribution

Bru crew:

Right-hander Brian Bruney is quietly having an effective season pitching out of the Yankees bullpen. The right-hander hasn't allowed a home run in his past 38 innings dating back to June 2006, and leads all New York relievers with a .153 batting average against.

"I don't think about anything that I've done so far, good or bad, because it's not productive," Bruney said. "If I sit here and think of a good outing I had, it's not going to do anything good for me. It's already done. And if I sit here and think of a bad outing, I can't change that outing."

There haven't been too many outings he would want to change anyway. Overall this season,
Bruney has posted a 1-1 record and 1.69 ERA in 21 1/3 innings. He's struck out 22 and walked 13 thus far.

As far as keeping long balls at bay, Bruney said that sometimes that's just how baseball goes.

"You can pitch the exact pitch you want to throw, down and in to someone who struggles low in the zone, and he could hit it out of the ballpark," he said.

Torre said that he's very comfortable using Bruney in pressure situations. He added that the Yankees have to be careful with how many innings Bruney pitches because his durability isn't quite on the same par as fellow reliever Scott Proctor.

"As long as we don't go to the well too often, I think he's going to be a big benefit," Torre said.