Bombers look to make dent in standings

Bombers look to make dent in standings

New York (22-29) at Boston (36-16), Friday, 7:05 p.m. ET

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

The vibe may be a little different by the time the Yankees' team bus pulls up on Yawkey Way on Friday afternoon, unloading cases of road-gray New York uniforms, equipment and -- of course -- the 25 members of the team that greater New England loves to hate.

Yes, it is still the Yankees and the Red Sox, and the intensity that those two passionate fan bases hold for the rivalry can't be diminished by the sluggish opening two months of the Bombers' season.

But it's an inescapable fact that the seasons have played, for the most part, into mirror images, with the Yankees struggling and the Red Sox dominating in the American League East.

This current tilt at the Fens won't change the structure of the divisional race, but as Yankees manager Joe Torre says, the standings go out the window any time the two clubs meet to play out a nine-inning battle.

"To me, it's still playing the Red Sox and it's still going to be nuts," Torre said. "Again, we're beaten up -- I don't mean physically as much as emotionally -- from what we've been going through. I don't think we're probably firing on all cylinders right now, with what's been going on, but hopefully we'll find that."

Head-to-head, the Yankees went 1-5 against the Red Sox in April and took two out of three from Boston at Yankee Stadium in May. When they report to the cramped visitors' locker room underneath the third-base grandstand at Fenway Park, the calendar will have already turned to June, and the Yankees can only hope that it spells different results.

"When we pitch well, we haven't really swung the bats well," said Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez. "It's definitely been a frustrating run, the last two weeks or so. All you say is one day at a time. It's got to start with one win."

Perhaps the Yankees got that ball rolling in the final game of their series north of the border on Wednesday, snapping up a 10-5 decision from the Toronto Blue Jays.

It wasn't the prettiest of performances, and the Yankees' thirst for a victory showed in a ninth-inning play where Rodriguez shouted in the ear of Toronto third baseman Howie Clark, but desperate times may have called for desperate measures.

"We need to win," Derek Jeter said. "Every game is important. We need to win every time we go out there. We have to have the attitude of that we need to win, because we don't have the luxury of not playing well."

Carrying a winning streak into Fenway Park -- even if it is just of the one game variety -- can never be underestimated, if only because the Yankees could use something to back themselves up from the chants and catcalls that are sure to come.

"A lot of people in baseball are laughing and enjoying what's going on, and I'm not OK with that," Rodriguez said. "This is very frustrating to be involved with, but we'll turn it around."

If the weekend plays out with the craziness as so many before it have, the Yankees feel like having a little luck on their side couldn't possibly be a bad thing.

"This lifted a real cloud off of us, especially with the off-day [Thursday]," Torre said. "To have to carry that through the off-day and then into Boston would have been very difficult. Hopefully, the way we have our pitching lined up, we can start competing and have some good results."

Pitching matchup
NYY: RHP Chien-Ming Wang (3-4, 4.13 ERA)
Wang allowed three runs in the first inning of his previous start against the Angels but settled in to hold the Halos scoreless over the next seven innings of a six-strikeout, six-hit performance. Wang hasn't allowed a home run to a right-handed batter all year and has induced at least one ground-ball double play in each of his past seven starts, matching the longest streak of his career.

BOS: RHP Tim Wakefield (5-5, 3.36 ERA)
Wakefield won for the first time in three starts Saturday against the Rangers in Arlington, giving up four runs on five hits in seven innings. Over his past three starts, Wakefield has allowed 15 runs over 19 innings. In three starts this season at Fenway, he is 1-2 with a 4.05 ERA and has allowed three home runs in 20 innings. The knuckleballer is 0-2 with a 7.84 ERA in two starts this year against the Yankees, who are batting .326 against him. In 44 career games (27 starts) against New York, Wakefield is 9-15 with a 4.76 ERA.

Player to watch
Plenty of Red Sox batters have seen the ball well against Wang, but Manny Ramirez has the best batting average (.579) against the Taiwanese right-hander. The left fielder has stroked 11 hits in 19 at-bats against Wang, including two homers and five RBIs.

Wang pulls Yanks closer to Red Sox

Wang pulls Yanks closer to Red Sox

Home runs by Rodriguez, Giambi make winner of right-hander

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Ron Guidry's greeting was mixed as Chien-Ming Wang walked out of the shower on Monday night, fresh off a victorious evening of work against the Red Sox.

On one hand, the pitching coach said he was pleased -- especially since the Yankees defeated the Red Sox, 6-2, to take the opener of a three-game series. But Wang sensed frustration, stemming from the three walks he'd allowed while testing out a new soft-tossing style.

"You're not too happy," Wang told Guidry, who responded in the affirmative.

But as Wang went lighter on his trademark sinker and trusted his developing changeup and slider more, offering a new look to the Red Sox, the experiment came away with mostly positive results.

Alex Rodriguez clubbed his Major League-leading 18th home run, Jason Giambi homered, Johnny Damon had three hits and Robinson Cano added a two-run triple to blast the Yankees past Boston and starter Tim Wakefield.

Wang made one start against the Red Sox earlier this season, an April 29 effort at Yankee Stadium, and came away dissatisfied concerning how the potent lineup had pounced on him for four runs in six innings.

"It's not an easy club for him to pitch to," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

Thus, the plan was hatched to soften things up the second time around. With catcher Jorge Posada calling the shots in a renewed approach, Wang discovered that he could work around the sinker, retiring the leadoff batter in each of the seven innings he started. Lesson learned.

"I can get a lot of guys out [with the new style]," said Wang, who improved to 3-4 in eight career starts against Boston.

Giving the Red Sox a new look for a night was one thing for Wang, who held the offensive output to two runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out five. But anyone expecting Wang to completely abandon his bowling ball-esque sinker -- as Guidry is fond of comparing it -- may have a long wait in store.

"It gives him more ammunition," said Torre. "He certainly has a variety of stuff, but his bread and butter is the sinker. We're not going to get away from that."

With Wakefield struggling to find the touch of his trademark knuckleball, Wang would soon have plenty of backing as he continued to see what his pitches could and could not do against the division's top team.

Rodriguez extended his Major League home run lead in the first inning, pouncing on the first pitch he saw for a two-run shot to deep left. It was the third consecutive game with a home run for Rodriguez, who slugged 14 in April to tie a big-league record and appears to be "back," according to Torre.

"I feel very comfortable," Rodriguez said. "It's frustrating, because you'd like to do something every at-bat, but I do feel more comfortable."

Back in the lineup after missing three starts due to a bone spur and plantar fasciitis in his left foot, Giambi led off the second inning with a solo home run to the upper deck in right field. He'd also later score from first base on a three-base hit, testing his orthotic inserts and reporting no issues.

"I never really felt like it was a matter of my swing," Giambi said. "I just felt like I couldn't push off. Every time I'd turn on that back foot, it'd feel like it'd just tear in half. It was kind of nice to swing and run the bases a little bit and not feel a ton of pain."

Derek Jeter added an RBI double off Wakefield, who has given the Yankees periodic fits over the years but provided no such headaches on Monday.

"This ballclub had a real good feel to it today," Torre said. "They felt real good about themselves."

Cano opened the floodgates in the fifth inning with a two-run triple off Wakefield, who allowed six runs and nine hits in five innings. The veteran right-hander walked five and struck out two before heading to the clubhouse, soon to be saddled with his fifth loss.

The victory would be big for the Yankees, Jeter said, if only because every game at this point is. Jeter facetiously said that even if the Yankees were playing a high school team and not their arch rivals, the game would be vital.

"You can't keep saying it's early," Jeter said. "You've got to come out ready to win."

Making his sixth start of the season, Wang flexed his control of the Red Sox early. The right-hander wriggled out of two-out jams in the first two innings before settling in, retiring eight of nine batters before surrendering back-to-back doubles to Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz in the fifth, accounting for Boston's first run.

Wang scattered seven hits, walking three and striking out five, before finally running out of steam in the seventh. The right-hander left to a standing ovation after allowing a one-out double to Youkilis.

Ortiz reached left-hander Mike Myers for a sacrifice fly, scoring Julio Lugo, but right-hander Brian Bruney struck out Manny Ramirez looking to end the inning.

The Yankees escaped a bases-loaded jam in the eighth as Scott Proctor got Lugo to ground out on a deft play by Cano, who flipped the ball to second base for a fielder's choice and averted an oncoming disaster in the making.

"We don't have the luxury to throw games away," Rodriguez explained it.

Kyle Farnsworth recorded three outs in the ninth inning for the Yankees, who recorded their second straight victory after losing seven of their previous nine games. Giambi described the ensuing mood of the clubhouse as positive.

"The one great thing about this team is that we have a lot of veteran players," Giambi said. "They've been upbeat, trying to know that we can dig our way out of this hole. We've had a lot of fight. It hasn't been like we haven't been in games. We just haven't gotten over the hump."

Yankees earn split behind Wang

Yankees earn split behind Wang

Starter allows one run over seven; Cabrera, Posada homer

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

CHICAGO -- Chien-Ming Wang pitched seven strong innings and Hideki Matsui drove in four runs as the Yankees rolled to an 8-1 victory over the White Sox on Wednesday, securing a split of a day-night doubleheader at U.S. Cellular Field.

Having dropped the first game of the rain-necessitated twin bill behind a troubled effort from Mike Mussina, the Yankees sorely needed a solid starting performance.

They got one from Wang, who limited the White Sox to one earned run and six hits in picking up his second victory of the season, leaving with a three-run lead before the Yankees blew the game open with four runs -- including homers from Melky Cabrera and Jorge Posada -- in the ninth inning.

"It's all about Wang today," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "Considering the fact that it was a close game, he was terrific. He got some good hitters out with men on base."

The Yankees staked Wang (2-3) to a lead in the third inning, scoring two unearned runs off Chicago starter Jose Contreras.

Derek Jeter reached on a one-out error and moved to second when Jason Giambi worked his second walk of the game. After Alex Rodriguez lined out, Matsui drilled a shot over the head of center fielder Darin Erstad, rolling to the wall and driving in both runners.

The play served as a great test for Giambi, who had returned to Los Angeles on the Yankees' off-day Monday to secure some custom-made orthotic inserts, hoping to cushion the slugger's ailing left foot.

As Giambi chugged on a 270-foot dash from first base to home plate, he didn't appear graceful, but Giambi rarely does. The most important thing, said Giambi -- who'd later single to end an 0-for-20 skid -- was that he felt little discomfort.

"That's the biggest thing, just getting some of the comfort back," Giambi said.

Meanwhile, Wang appeared plenty comfortable as he showed few ill effects from the issues that plagued his last start, an effort against Texas on May 10 that ended up as a 14-2 blowout loss.

Wang said he'd spent time in the bullpen working on his "smoothness" and it showed, as the right-hander had good control over a 91-pitch effort. Wang walked one and struck out three, keeping his fielders busy with the usual array of ground balls and a few more fly balls than normal.

"When you have Wang pitching like he was," Jeter said, "it makes you feel good."

Chicago finally broke through against Wang in the sixth, as Rob Mackowiak bounced a single up the middle, bringing home Erstad from second base.

But the Yankees escaped further damage in the inning as center fielder Cabrera fired to third base on the play, with Alex Rodriguez tagging out Pablo Ozuna in the basepath.

"Melky gives you a little shot of energy," Torre said of the 22-year-old Cabrera, who played both games of the doubleheader.

Limited to just three hits through the first six innings, the Yankees finally chased Contreras (3-4) in the seventh.

Bobby Abreu -- who had two hits, including a home run, in the first game of the doubleheader -- atoned for three strikeouts by stroking a two-out single to right, bringing in Cabrera.

Jeter followed with an RBI triple to right-center, staking New York to a three-run lead and eventually setting the stage for the Yankees' second victory in five games so far on this trip.

"We needed one of those games," Jeter said. "We need it to continue."

Contreras, who pitched for the Yankees in 2003 and 2004, was charged with two earned runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings, walking three and striking out four. Cabrera and Posada added solo ninth-inning home runs off Andy Sisco.

Kyle Farnsworth retired the White Sox around two walks in the eighth inning and Mariano Rivera set down Chicago in the ninth.

The game, the second half of a doubleheader, was preceded by a rain delay of one hour and 15 minutes.

Torre said that even after the Yankees' 5-3 loss in the first game, their spirits remained loose and high -- infield coach Larry Bowa was said to have donned a batting helmet and volunteered to bat leadoff, an action the players found amusing -- and expressed optimism that the nightcap win could be the start of a roll for the Yankees, who improved to 18-20.

"We know we're better than this," Torre said. "We were probably a little tight [in the first game], but I felt pretty good."

Because Wang was efficient in his seven innings of work, Torre wouldn't rule out the thought that the right-hander could return on three days' rest to pitch against the Mets at Shea Stadium on Sunday.

Wang said he "maybe" could do it and said he'd accept the assignment if asked, but Torre said that would be a discussion to take place with pitching coach Ron Guidry in the morning hours.

"We'll do what we feel is best for him," Torre said.

Notes: Posada carrying offensive load

Notes: Posada carrying offensive load

Minor League callup to pitch Sunday in Subway Series

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

CHICAGO -- The American League's leading hitter is tough to nail down before a game, always seemingly two steps away from grabbing his bat and heading into a cage for extra batting practice.

But it's what has worked so far this season for Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, who had posted an AL-best .375 batting average through his first 35 games of the season, a new high for his career.

"I feel good at the plate, and that's what it's all about," Posada said. "It's early and I'm not looking into it. I'm happy with it."

Always considered a valuable offensive force, Posada has contributed a great deal to the Yankees' attack this month in particular.

While teammates Bobby Abreu, Robinson Cano, Jason Giambi and Alex Rodriguez have battled to escape their respective skids, Posada has helped in an effort to pick up some of the slack.

The 35-year-old backstop entered play Thursday batting .478 (22-for-46) this month, tops in the Major Leagues, while riding a career-high 11-game hit streak.

With that sort of production, it has been a difficult proposition for the Yankees to remove Posada from the lineup, particularly given the offensive struggles of understudy Wil Nieves, who has just one hit in 27 at-bats this year.

On Wednesday, Posada was rested for the second game of New York's doubleheader against the White Sox, but his time of respite was brief.

With the Yankees threatening for more runs in the seventh inning against Chicago starter Jose Contreras, manager Joe Torre turned to Posada to try and knock a run in from second base, and he remained in the game to catch the final three innings.

"He jumped right up," Torre said. "He's a real good team player. Certainly, he's very valuable for us. We have to try to take as good care of him as we can."

A heavy workload figures to await Posada as the Yankees play out an important stretch of their schedule, with six games in six days against the Mets and Red Sox after they leave Chicago early Thursday evening.

Posada said that retaining freshness is not a concern.

"I go one day at a time and just get as much [rest] as I can," Posada said. "Joe's been very good at trying to give me a day here and there."

Kyle criticizes: Kyle Farnsworth spoke his mind regarding Roger Clemens' unique contract perks in a Chicago-area radio interview Thursday morning.

Farnsworth was a guest on Chicago's 670 AM The Score, where he suggested that the so-called "family plan" Clemens has access to could cause "friction" in the clubhouse.

Clemens may be permitted to leave the team to attend to personal matters from time to time when he joins the Yankees later this month or in early June.

"As far as being a team player, I think everybody should be here, whether they're pitching or not," Farnsworth said. "I just think that if you're part of the team, you should be part of the team."

Farnsworth said he did not blame Clemens for having the plan incorporated into his pro-rated one-year, $28 million contract. He didn't back off the comments, saying that he'd been asked his opinion and spoken his mind.

"[Clemens] is going to be here to help the team win," Farnsworth said. "As far as everything that everybody is worried about, and if it's going to cause a problem, we'll see. I don't think it will. We're all professionals here."

Two no gos: Based upon how Jason Giambi handled the bone spur in his left foot as a designated hitter in Wednesday's nightcap, Torre said he was not inclined to believe that the slugger will be available to play first base this weekend as the Yankees take on the Mets.

Because of the lack of a designated hitter in National League parks, Giambi will be relegated to a pinch-hitter for most of the weekend, though the disabled list is still not considered a possibility.

Torre said a best-case scenario could be for Giambi to be available to pinch-hit late in games -- perhaps on Sunday -- and offer a few innings in the field.

"It feels 100 times better than it did before," Giambi said after Thursday's loss. "At least when I wake up in the morning, I can walk on it."

Torre also gave Johnny Damon -- who said he is still feeling slight effects from a strained right calf -- the afternoon off on Thursday.

"They're still not loose as a goose, as you'd like to have them," Torre said.

Melky Cabrera took over in center field. Torre said he noticed in the late innings of Wednesday's second game that Cabrera still had a bit of a spring in his step, despite playing in both halves of the twin bill.

Clippard in for Sunday? The Yankees plan to call up a Minor League pitcher for Sunday's start, Torre said, and the primary candidate appears to be right-hander Tyler Clippard.

Clippard, 22, was lifted from his start Thursday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at Norfolk after just one inning, in which he struck out three and walked one. Clippard is 3-2 with a 2.72 ERA in eight starts at Triple-A.

The rotation fell into a state of flux with Tuesday's rainout at Chicago, forcing Mike Mussina and Chien-Ming Wang to both pitch on Wednesday. The Yankees did not want to bring back Mussina on three days' rest and, after brief consideration, decided against doing the same with Wang, who threw 91 pitches in a victory Wednesday evening.

Asked about Clippard's early exit following Thursday's game, Torre did not commit to Clippard as the candidate to be called up but said that he is "certainly one of the considerations."

Off the shelf: Scott Proctor returned to duty in the Yankees bullpen, his four-game suspension complete. Proctor -- who was fined $1,500 for throwing at the Mariners' Yuniesky Betancourt -- announced in Seattle that he would drop his appeal so that he could be available for the series against the Mets and Red Sox.

Coming up: The Subway Series is here again, as the Yankees return home to New York and open a three-game weekend set with the Mets at Shea Stadium.

Left-hander Andy Pettitte (2-2, 2.68 ERA) gets the call in the first game Friday, with left-hander Oliver Perez (4-3, 3.00 ERA) squaring off for the Mets. First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. ET on the YES Network.

Wang named World Games spokesman

Wang named World Games spokesman

Event's 2009 edition will be held in pitcher's home, Taiwan

By Caleb Breakey / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- What does Chien-Ming Wang do two days after he throws 7 1/3 innings of perfect baseball? He speaks at an international news conference -- but not about his stellar pitching performance on Saturday.

Wang was introduced as the spokesperson for the 2009 World Games on Monday at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York City.

The games will be hosted by the southern port city of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Wang is a baseball hero in Taiwan -- where he was born -- and his role for the games will be promotion and advertising, said executive vice president of marketing Nova Lanktree.

Wang, who did most of the speaking at the conference and later said it went "very well," has already shot a commercial in which he performs a tango dance, one of the events featured in the games. The commercial was shown at the conference.

When asked what the commercial was all about, Wang smiled and laughed. "I don't know," he said.

Tug-of-war and Sumo wresting are other events featured in the games.

"These games have competitions that the Olympics don't," Lanktree said.

Lanktree declined to comment on the other duties Wang will perform in his role with the games, preferring to talk about what happened at Monday's conference.

Chen Yi-Heng, chief executive officer of the Kaohsiung Organizing Committee, along with Ron Froehlich, chairman of the International World Games Association, promoted the international sporting event alongside Wang. About 150 people attended the conference, Lanktree said.

One goal for the three of them is to draw the attention of more Americans to the games so that they might come to Kaohsiung. At least 120 American athletes plan on attending the games and the Kaohsiung city government will launch various sightseeing tours, according to Lanktree.

"It's wonderful timing," Lanktree said. "Taiwan is proud to be the host of these games. [The conference] was very beautiful -- [a] warm, exciting, good showing."

Wang started the 2007 season with the Yankees on the disabled list because of a hamstring injury. The right-handed pitcher, however, has gotten back on track after two outings in which he didn't show the good command that accompanied his sinker last year, when he won 19 games.

Saturday marked the day he put it all together. He pitched 7 1/3 perfect innings against the Mariners before giving up two hits. In 20 1/3 innings pitched this season, Wang has posted a 1-2 record and 3.98 ERA, striking out eight and walking three.

Wang nearly perfect in Yanks' rout

Wang nearly perfect in Yanks' rout

Righty's bid for history ends with Broussard homer in eighth

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Chien-Ming Wang took a seat at the far end of the Yankees' bench for the sixth inning, a white towel draped over his right arm and a bronze plaque of longtime clubhouse man Pete Sheehy serving as his only company.

The march toward perfection, as Wang learned in the Yankees' 8-1 victory on Saturday, can become a lonely path.

"I don't know why everybody [wouldn't] talk to me," Wang said.

Wang's bid to become just the third Yankees pitcher to throw a perfect game in the regular season ended in the eighth inning, as the Mariners' Ben Broussard -- the 23rd Seattle hitter of the game -- slugged a hanging changeup for a solo home run.

"I tried to throw it low. I got it higher," Wang said.

Barely breaking stride, Wang took a brief walk around the mound, gritted his teeth and put the finishing touches on the eighth inning of work.

Wang later said that he wasn't upset to have lost the perfect game. If the icy-nerved hurler had been, the Yankees probably would have been curious to see what it looked like.

"He's about as even-tempered a starting pitcher as you can be," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "I was curious just to see what kind of emotion [he'd have] if he did pitch the no-hitter. He may have jogged off the mound."

Claiming to have been blissfully unaware that he'd been pitching a perfect game until it was later drawn to his attention, Wang seemed satisfied with his one-run, two-hit performance, in which he stifled Seattle hitters and allowed no walks, striking out four.

The Yankees, who have looked longingly to their pitching staff for solid starting efforts all year, were similarly pleased.

"This whole team knows how important he is to this club," said pitching coach Ron Guidry, who embraced Wang in the dugout with a series of slaps to the back of the hurler's neck.

Catcher Jorge Posada, who received David Wells' perfect game against the Twins on May 17, 1998, said that he'd started to allow thoughts of immortality to creep into his head after Wang battled back from a three-ball count to strike out Seattle left fielder Raul Ibanez, ending the seventh inning.

"I thought he had it," Posada said. "I really thought so.

"When he's done after seven, striking out Ibanez, you feel pretty good about it. You think about the next three outs and you're thinking in the dugout [of] who's coming up, what you're going to call."

In the pivotal at-bat, Posada explained that Broussard, who'd flied out to center field and grounded out to first in his previous at-bats, took a first-pitch fastball and appeared to have timed the pitch pretty well.

Posada called for a changeup, the first Wang threw all afternoon, hoping to get Broussard out in front. Instead, the pitch hung and Broussard smashed it to right-center field, to the right of the 385-foot sign.

"It's not like he was completely dominating, but he did a good job keeping us off balance," Broussard said. "In the sixth inning, you start realizing he has a shot at this. We had to make him start throwing more pitches. We had to be patient."

A 19-game winner last season, tying Minnesota's Johan Santana for the Major League lead, Wang hadn't even been a certainty for the start, due to a cracked fingernail on his right middle finger.

Wang, who missed three weeks of the season due to a strained right hamstring suffered in Spring Training, quelled any fears over a second setback by throwing a solid bullpen session on Wednesday in Texas.

"For a guy who we weren't sure he was going to make his next start, he did a great job," Torre said.

Torre said that Wang, a ground-ball pitcher who relies on his bowling ball-like sinker to induce easy plays for his infielders, might have been an unlikely candidate for perfection because of the constant defensive action.

"When they're swinging at it, they certainly envision the ball going in the air," Torre said. "It just doesn't happen because of the late movement. That's the trick. The ball doesn't move until right at the end, when you've already committed yourself."

Fourteen of the outs Wang recorded came on the ground. The pitcher also did his share of glove work, fielding his position well in the effort.

The right-hander successfully defended against four batted balls, including a fourth-inning play in which he took an Ichiro Suzuki grounder off his left ankle, throwing out the Seattle speedster at first base after the ball deflected up off his chest.

The Yankees also helped Wang with solid defense, notably a running seventh-inning catch by Hideki Matsui, tracking down a drive into the left-center-field gap, to keep the bid alive.

One day after putting up season highs in runs and hits, only to lose, the Yankees' bats did more than enough heavy lifting to support Wang's sterling effort on Saturday, including batting around against former Yankees righty Jeff Weaver in the five-run sixth inning.

Staked to a 1-0 lead by Bobby Abreu's sacrifice fly in the third, Matsui brought home the Yankees' second run in the sixth inning in painful fashion, as he was hit in the right thigh with the bases loaded by the suddenly erratic Weaver. Posada followed with an RBI single to center, and Weaver walked in a run by issuing a free pass to Melky Cabrera.

The Yankees broke the game open on Derek Jeter's two-run double to left, extending the Yankees' lead to six runs as Weaver exited, having allowed six runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings, walking three and fanning three.

Robinson Cano added a seventh-inning sacrifice fly and Josh Phelps had an eighth-inning RBI groundout.

Coincidentally, Wang's performance came on the 103rd anniversary of the first perfect game in Major League history. On May 5, 1904, Cy Young pitched a perfect game for the Boston Americans against the Philadelphia Athletics.

Change of pace ends Wang's bid

Change of pace ends Wang's bid

Perfect game spoiled on righty's first changeup vs. Mariners

By Caleb Breakey / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- On Friday, the Yankees' spirits loomed low after a 15-11 loss to the Mariners. But Chien-Ming Wang sat at his locker with a smile on his face as he talked with a reporter. He must have known Saturday would be special -- maybe even perfect.

Jorge Posada felt the first tingles of perfection when a full-count pitch whizzed by Raul Ibanez in the seventh inning. Wang had come back from a 3-0 count to strike Ibanez out. Before the big K, Yankees left fielder Hideki Matsui chased down an Ichiro Suzuki deep fly ball toward the left-center-field gap, robbing the Mariners center fielder of extra bases. Something was up.

"I thought, 'There's something here,'" Posada said.

Whispers had long since begun floating through the crowd, through the press box, through the concession stands -- everywhere but the Yankees' dugout. There, Wang sat at the end of the bench. Alone.

Mariners utility man Willie Bloomquist started the game at third base to give Adrian Beltre a rest. He said the momentum and atmosphere in Yankee Stadium could be felt. Wang was on.

"A pitch looks like it's going to be down the heart of the plate, and then there's late movement," Bloomquist said. "The ball gets in on you and jams you."

The eighth inning came.

Hobbled by a sharp grounder taken off his left shin earlier in the game, Wang faced Richie Sexson. The plunk to his shin wasn't as bad as it seemed, though. Posada said it made Wang's sinker move more because he landed more softly out of the windup.

Maybe so. Sexson hit a dribbler right back to Wang. One out.

Then Ben Broussard stepped to the plate. The Mariners backup first baseman had appeared in only 10 games before this one. But in his 17th at-bat of the season, Broussard crossed paths with shadows of Yankees past -- the masterful perfect games turned in by David Cone (1998) and David Wells ('99).

Wang threw a fastball by Broussard, who didn't swing, didn't flinch. Strike one. Posada thought Broussard might be trying to time Wang's fastball, so he decided to call for a pitch he hadn't called to this point -- a changeup.

Posada said that Wang's changeups have been effective the entire season. Besides, a slow pitch with movement would counter Broussard's attempt to zero in on the right-hander's fastball.

Wang released the ball, and it traveled toward home plate. Like every pitch in that inning, eyes followed each rotation that the ball and its red seams made.

"I tried to throw it low," Wang said. "I got it higher."

It stayed up. It became a hitter's pitch. Posada couldn't get that call for a changeup out of his mind -- not even as he stood at his locker after the game.

"You never second-guess yourself," Posada said, "but after it happens, you do."

Wang lost his bid for a perfect game as Broussard drove the 0-1 pitch into the right-field stands. It came in front of a nationwide audience that leaned close to its boxed televisions, computer monitors and flat-screens.

Wang's eyes followed the ball. He even walked a few steps toward right field. He may have wanted to grab that ball out of some fan's hands and hit the rewind button. But he stopped. Then he turned back toward the plate.

Five outs short of perfection, Wang surrendered a second hit to Jose Guillen before getting out of the inning on a double-play grounder hit by Kenji Johjima.

Wang walked to the dugout, the crowd erupted and pitching coach Ron Guidry made his way over to Wang.

"If you're going to lose, think about losing on your best stuff," Guidry said he told him, with a couple of pats on the neck.

Congratulations kept coming. The Yankees' 8-1 victory seemed over at that point, as fans showed their appreciation to Wang.

Wang still has plenty of time to flirt with perfect games. He's just 27 years old. And even though few fans and non-fans alike thought about it, Broussard had himself a magical moment. He hit the ball, rounded the bases, ruined a perfect game and had sentiments of his own.

"That's my first home run in Yankee Stadium," he said. "Pretty special."