分類: 運動追蹤

NEW YORK (AP) — Whether it’s Toronto’s big bats or punchless Tampa Bay, Chien-Ming Wang is overpowering everybody lately.

That’s a momentous development for the surging New York Yankees, who need as much consistent pitching as they can get.

Wang tossed eight more shutout innings to win his fifth straight start, and Alex Rodriguez got two key hits in a six-run sixth that broke open New York’s 7-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night.

“That sinkerball, it’s a lot like a knuckleball pitcher. You can tell them what’s coming and there’s not a lot anybody can do about it,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “I feel so good when we write his name in the lineup.”

Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada homered for the AL East-leading Yankees, who won for the seventh time in eight games and improved to 10-1-1 in their last 12 series.

Bobby Abreu singled and doubled for his first two hits with New York, and fellow newcomer Craig Wilson added a pair of singles in his Yankees debut.

Coming off a two-hitter against the Devil Rays last Friday for his first career shutout, Wang (13-4) buzzed through the best-hitting team in the major leagues and ran his scoreless streak to 18 innings.

“Before, sometimes my arm dropped down. Now, I stay on top,” Wang said, adding that he’s having “a lot of fun.”

Pitching on a sweltering 97-degree night before a sellout crowd of 54,414, he allowed four hits and got 16 outs on grounders to beat the Blue Jays for the second time in 12 days. The right-hander walked three, all in the second inning, and struck out three.

“He’s got that power sinker. He’s a groundball machine,” Toronto manager John Gibbons said.

Wang has a 1.64 ERA in his past five starts. With that string of stingy performances, he has surpassed an inconsistent Randy Johnson and become New York’s No. 2 starter — right behind Mike Mussina.

“It’s really tough to say who’s been the best for us,” Yankees center fielder Johnny Damon said. “He’s been as good as Moose has all season long.”

Ron Villone gave up a two-run homer in the ninth to Troy Glaus, his 28th.

The Blue Jays, who have lost four straight and eight of 11, entered leading the majors in batting average (.293) and slugging percentage (.480). But Wang shut them down.

“The guy throws 95-plus with a sink like that, you’ve got to tip your cap to him,” Toronto’s Aaron Hill said.

Jeter hit a solo homer in the third off ex-Yankee Ted Lilly (9-10).

Rodriguez hustled his way to a leadoff double in the sixth, evading a tag at second base with a clever slide. Beaten badly by the throw, he pulled back his left arm and reached around to touch the base with his right — drawing laughs from Jeter and other teammates on the bench.

“I was pretty confident until I saw the ball beat me by 25 feet,” Rodriguez said. “It feels like you came in without your homework and the teacher calls your name.”

Posada followed with his 13th homer, and Melky Cabrera’s one-out double chased Lilly.

Damon hit an RBI single off Dustin McGowan, and Jeter walked with the bases loaded to make it 5-0.

After Abreu struck out against Scott Downs, Rodriguez hit a two-run single to left off the glove of diving shortstop John McDonald.

Lilly gave up five runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings.

“Sometimes we want to win the game so bad it works against us,” he said.

NEW YORK — The last time Chien-Ming Wang pitched a complete game, he threw his glove to the ground in frustration as he left the mound. It wasn’t quite the classic nine-inning variety, as Wang surrendered a walk-off homer to Washington’s Ryan Zimmerman.
On Friday night, before Wang walked to the mound in the ninth inning, pitching coach Ron Guidry joked with Wang on the bench saying, “I’m going to give you one more chance.”

This time Wang finished it, sitting down the Devil Rays in order to cap a 6-0 complete-game victory. It’s win No. 12 for Wang and his first career shutout.

The Yankees have won four straight, putting them 20 games over .500 for the first time this season. With a Boston loss, the Yankees are only ½ game out of first place in the American League East.

Friday night’s game didn’t have nearly the suspense of the June 18 contest in Washington. Yet monotony has become the routine whenever Wang takes the hill. The only people who get excited are the infielders — and that’s including Wang.

Even after recording the last out, Wang still didn’t crack a smile until shaking hands with his teammates. He proclaimed he was happy despite his expression, but this kind of performance is something neither he nor his teammates are surprised by anymore.

“It seems like every time out that seems to be the topic of conversation, how much better he was than the previous time out,” Derek Jeter said. “I don’t know how much better he can get.”

Wang said this was his best game as a Yankee. It was nearly perfect.

The 26-year-old sinkerballer allowed only two hits and took a perfect game into the fifth inning before Ty Wigginton singled up the middle. The only other hit Wang surrendered came on a ball that went under Miguel Cairo’s glove and could have been ruled an error.

“I’d say he had no-hit stuff tonight,” Wigginton said. “I was just fortunate enough to get it into the outfield. He was just lights out from the get-go.”

Wang allowed only two runners to get past first base, walked just one, struck out just one and used a total of 104 pitches.

Alex Rodriguez, who got the eventual game-winning RBI with an single in the first, said he couldn’t remember seeing a complete game with only one strikeout. But even with a 96 mph fastball, that’s not Wang’s style. Using a two-seam sinker, Wang recorded 18 of the 27 outs on ground balls.

“He’s the type of pitcher that can tell you what’s coming and they still have trouble digging it out of the ground,” manager Joe Torre said.

With the bottom two spots of the Yankees’ rotation somewhat shaky, Wang has made Torre feel quite comfortable with the No. 3 hole. Wang now has a 3.77 ERA and has won four straight decisions, which is also a career first.

“With the amount of experience this kid has had, he has garnered so much trust from us,” Torre said. “This kid, you put him right up with Moose and Randy as far as the quality starts you expect from him.”

Wang was 1-3 with a 6.94 ERA against the Devil Rays last season. He is now 2-0 with a 1.11 ERA against them this season.

Asked if Wang had changed anything since his rookie season last year, Torre said, “nothing.”

“He’s been this way since he’s been up here,” he said. “This is a game where I don’t care who we we’re playing, the way this kid was pitching tonight it would have been tough for anybody to beat him.”

Tampa Bay did make things a bit easier on the Yankees than they needed to be. Devil Rays starter Tim Corcoran walked six batters in 3 1/3 innings. The Yankees came within one hitter of batting around twice during the game but only scored two runs in each of those innings.

The first big inning came in the second, which was highlighted by a bobbled double play ball that gave the Yankees new life. The other was in the fourth, as Jeter hit a double and four of the next five batters walked to give the patient Bronx Bombers a 5-0 lead. Bernie Williams hit his eighth homer of the season, a blast to dead center in the sixth, to cap off the scoring.

It was more than enough support for Wang. All he needed was one. And this time there would be no disappointment.

“He had a complete game in Washington but certainly not one where he wanted to remember,” Torre said. “This was a jewel.”

TORONTO — Once again, Joe Torre seems to have the magic touch.
Torre held a pregame meeting with the Yankees on Saturday, urging his players not to let their three-game losing streak snowball into something much worse.

“He just wanted to make sure we weren’t getting sloppy, because we played a sloppy game the night before,” said Jason Giambi, referring to Friday’s loss to the Blue Jays. “He didn’t want us to let it get away; we’ve been playing so well with so many guys hurt, he didn’t want us to lose our situation and have the wheels come off.”

New York responded to Torre’s words, as the Yankees grinded their way to a 5-4 win over the Blue Jays, snapping the losing streak.

The win, combined with Boston’s loss in Seattle, moved the Yankees within 2 1/2 games of the Red Sox in the American League East.

“This club has been playing hard; I certainly have not had a problem with their effort,” Torre said. “I’m just happy we were able to stop this slide. When you win five games in a row, you don’t want to give it back right away.”

“Remember how we got here and keep going the way we’ve been doing it all year,” Jorge Posada said of Torre’s message. “When two games get away from you, you don’t want to fall into a losing streak.”

The game-winning run didn’t come in the most dramatic of fashions, as Derek Jeter worked a bases-loaded walk against Justin Speier in the seventh inning. But it got the job done.

“We’re not always going to hit home runs and score all these runs and blow them out,” Jeter said. “You’ve got to be able to win the close ones.”

Chien-Ming Wang earned his 11th win of the season, tying Mike Mussina for the team lead in victories. Wang didn’t have his best stuff, but his six innings of four-run ball proved to be enough.

“Wang wasn’t necessarily what we’re used to seeing, but he kept us in the game and gave us a chance to do what we did,” Torre said. “It was a good lift for us.”

If there was any down side for the Yankees in the game, it was another tough day for Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod, who started as the designated hitter, went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. It was just the second time in his career that he K’d four times, the first since June 22, 1995, against the White Sox.

“I didn’t feel that bad at the plate,” said Rodriguez, who was 12-for-36 with five homers against Ted Lilly before Saturday. “It’s just one of those days that makes your head spin a little bit. You just put it behind you. The key is that we won today.”

“Alex has had a lot of success against Lilly, but Lilly got the best of him today,” Torre said. “Alex is struggling right now, swinging and missing at pitches that he hits.”

The Yankees got things started in the second, as Jorge Posada — who got into a heated exchange with Lilly after a pitch came near his head — tripled for the first time in more than four years.

“I was really proud of Jorge, after he got himself so emotionally spent, that he didn’t just swing at anything,” Torre said. “He had a good at-bat after that.”

Bernie Williams followed with a two-run home run, his seventh, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

Toronto tied the game with a run in the second and a run in the fourth, as Eric Hinske’s solo shot off Wang made it a 2-2 game. Lyle Overbay gave Toronto its first lead of the game in the fifth with a two-out, two-run double.

With runners at the corners and two outs in the sixth, Jeter and Johnny Damon tried a double steal. The play caught Lilly off-guard, prompting a balk, which allowed Damon to score to cut the lead to one.

Down 4-3, New York rallied in the seventh, putting runners at first and second with one out. Giambi, pinch-hitting for Nick Green, pulled a one-out RBI double inside the first-base line against Scott Downs to tie the game.

“I knew I was going to be in this game sooner or later,” said Giambi, who entered the game in a 2-for-19 skid. “I just wanted to take a good at-bat and hit the ball hard. I enjoy being in those situations, coming up and driving in the big run.”

“He had an idea what he wanted to do and he did it,” Torre said. “He’s been so huge for us in key situations. He came up big again.”

After an intentional walk to Damon to load the bases, Downs was removed in favor of Speier, who struck out Miguel Cairo for the second out. But Jeter worked a walk against Speier, forcing Melky Cabrera home to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead.

“Jeter is so tough; he’s up there and he’s an aggressive hitter [and] he’s such a great situational hitter,” Jays manager John Gibbons said. “He’ll play the counts and let it fly, but he also makes you throw it over the plate. That’s why he’s so tough. He can beat you so many ways. He’s one of the best players in the game; there’s a reason for it.”

Scott Proctor pitched the seventh, overcoming a one-out double by Frank Catalanotto by striking out Vernon Wells and Troy Glaus, getting the final out on a 98-mph fastball that froze Glaus for a called third strike.

Kyle Farnsworth struck out the side in the eighth, hitting 101 mph on the radar gun. Mariano Rivera closed out the game with a scoreless ninth, earning his 23rd save.

“They came in ready to do what needed to be done,” Torre said. “The last three innings, we got a lead and did something with it.”

“Hopefully, that’s what we can do down the road,” Proctor said of the bullpen’s effort. “We’re all human, so that’s not going to be the case, but right now, for the most part, we’re clicking on all cylinders.”

The Yankees will try to salvage the series split on Sunday, looking to leave town on a high note before heading to Texas. Stopping the losing streak was important, but now they hope to begin a winning streak.

“Once you get past the All-Star break, you don’t want to fall into the trap of losing seven or eight in a row,” Giambi said. “As well as Boston has been playing, you could find yourself way out of the race. We want to keep ourselves within striking distance — if not overtake Boston — before we play them again.”