無關勝負，但這是王建民的另一場好投
Another solid outing for Wang
Young righty throws eight innings in duel with Smoltz
By Ryan Mink / MLB.com
NEW YORK — Before Alex Rodriguez’s liberating walk-off home run made the rest of Wednesday’s game seem obsolete, there was Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang.
While Rodriguez’s day ended with his team waiting to pounce on him at home plate, Wang’s day was rather businesslike. You know, just eight innings of two-run ball. That’s all.
The thing is, that kind of start has become almost ordinary from Wang.
“You have to keep reminding yourself how old he is,” manager Joe Torre said. “You send him out there and expect something like this, and it doesn’t surprise you when he does it. But it’s unfair to keep expecting that from him, even though he’s certainly been capable of it.”
Wang got a no-decision against John Smoltz and the Braves, but he has a 3-1 record and 2.48 ERA in his past five starts, all of which he has gone at least seven innings. He is now 9-3 with a 4.01 ERA on the season.
Following Wang’s previous start, catcher Jorge Posada said Wang’s stuff is the best on the staff. After catching Wang for seven innings Wednesday, Kelly Stinnett is becoming a believer.
“He’s up there. He’s close to Mariano,” Stinnett said. “When you throw 96-97 and have movement like he does — and you put it over the plate — that’s pretty special.”
Wang allowed one hit through the first three innings. He first got into trouble in the fourth inning when Edgar Renteria smacked a leadoff double. Chipper Jones then grounded out before Andruw Jones pushed across the game’s first run with a double of his own.
But as usual, Wang settled down. He got each of the next two hitters to hit the ball into the ground, limiting the damage and escaping the inning.
Of the 24 outs Wang recorded, 17 were the result of groundouts. He got Jeff Francoeur to ground out with men on first and third in the sixth to limit any damage after two consecutive singles put the Braves up 2-0.
“The biggest thing with him is you don’t have to panic,” Stinnett said. “You don’t have to trick anybody. It’s just, ‘Here, see it and hit it.’ … So what if he gives up a hit or two or he has a pitch count up? You know that one pitch is there.”
The pitch Stinnett is referring to is Wang’s sinker, which comes in around 90 mph and makes hitters routinely bounce into inning-ending double plays.
In the eighth inning, Renteria hit one hard back at Wang. The ball bounced off his glove and Wang scampered off the mound to get his man. They couldn’t knock him out. Wang was going to leave on his watch.
“It doesn’t seem like anything fazes him,” said Stinnett, who fields most of the questions for his Taiwanese pitcher. “He’s pretty cool out there.”
So cool that after Wednesday’s game, Wang’s line was just a mere notch on his stellar sophomore season.
Ryan Mink is an associate reporter for MLB.com.
