[外電] Wang gets back on track as Yankees win, 3-1
Wang gets back on track as Yankees win, 3-1
http://myurl.com.tw/uns4 (www.newsday.com)
OAKLAND, Calif. - Chien-Ming Wang finally put his month of misery behind him
Tuesday night.
Wang had turned in four consecutive dreadful starts, enough to cause many
people to push the panic button on the Yankees' ace. He settled in to stifle
the Athletics in a 3-1 Yankees win at McAfee Coliseum, as he reconnected with
his best friend -- the double play.
Even though Wang allowed the leadoff batter to reach in each of the first
seven innings, he allowed only one of those runners to score.
Wang got stuck in one giant jam that he managed to get out of. In the seventh
inning, Wang gave up a leadoff single to centerfield to Mark Ellis. Daric
Barton then hit into a fielder's choice, with Ellis reaching second. Wang
walked Travis Buck on five pitches and loaded the bases by giving up a single
to centerfield to Carlos Gonzalez. Ellis didn't score on the play, holding up
at third, although first baseman Wilson Betemit dropped the relay throw. Then
came Wang's saving grace, as Kurt Suzuki grounded into an inning-ending
double play.
The victory lifted the Yankees a game above .500. That is a threshold they
have had difficulty crossing, as they have moved above .500 only one other
time since April.
"It's better to be over .500 than under, but we need to get over-over,"
Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
The Yankees finally tacked on a run to their one-run lead when Melky Cabrera
hit his seventh home run of the season off Keith Foulke in the ninth inning,
a solo shot to the rightfield corner on a 1-and-1 pitch. Cabrera had not
homered since May 4th.
Girardi made the rare move of going to Mariano Rivera for a fourth
consecutive day, though not before he personally spoke with Rivera on the
bullpen phone something Girardi had not done all year. Rivera had allowed a run in two of
the previous three games, including a gamewinning homer to the Royals' Jose
Guillen on Monday. Yet he had allowed just one run in the season before that.
But Rivera made it through the ninth against the A's with no problems. He
allowed only a single as he notched his 17th save in 17 opportunities. He
struck out Daric Barton swinging and got Buck to fly out to second baseman
Robinson Cano before allowing a single to shallow centerfield Gonzalez. Kurt
Suzuki flied out to rightfield to end the game.
"What happened (Monday) is behind me," Rivera said. "When games like that
happen, you want to get out there again."
The performance by Wang (7-2) was a marked difference from that of his
previous four games. He had gone 0-1 with an 8.75 ERA (23 earned runs allowed
in 23-2/3 innings). He had also not recorded a win in his last six starts,
the longest such stretch in his career. Before the game, Girardi said he
wanted to see Wang get ahead in counts and throw more strikes. He did that,
needing only 60 pitches to get through the first six innings.
"Very big help," Wang said of the better sink he had on his pitches last
night.
Pitching coach Dave Eiland said: "He was frustrated, he was aggravated, but
today was a huge step in the right direction."
The lone run Wang gave up came in the fourth inning. Jack Cust led off with a
single, and advanced to second on Eric Chavez's groundout. Ellis' double
drove Cust home.
The more impressive note may be that Wang kept all those runners on-base from
making it home. His patented ground-ball work helped him out, as the Yankees
turned double plays in three different innings.
"It's all about arm speed," Eiland said.
Offensively, the Yankees didn't manage to do much against the A's. Starter
Dana Eveland allowed two earned runs on four hits and six walks in six
innings. The only damage the Yankees did against him was in the first inning,
when five consecutive batters reached base. Eveland issued a one-out walk to
Derek Jeter, then a single to Bobby Abreu. Alex Rodriguez singled to center
to score Jeter, but Abreu was thrown out trying to get to third. Eveland then
allowed an RBI single to Jason Giambi and walked Jorge Posada. Wilson Betemit
grounded into a forceout to end the inning.
Wang finally kept the leadoff batter off base in the eighth inning -- and
promptly got pulled from the game. Wang got A's DH Jack Hannahan to fly out
to deep leftfield. That long fly was enough for Girardi, who replaced Wang
with Jose Veras. Wang allowed one earned run on seven hits and two walks in
7-1/3 innings.
After getting Bobby Crosby to ground out to first base, Veras walked the next
two batters, Cust and Eric Chavez. Veras recovered to get Mark Ellis to
ground out to second base to end the inning.
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