Yanks look to salvage finale

Yanks look to salvage finale
New York (36-39) at Baltimore (34-43), Thursday, 7:05 p.m. ET
By Geremy Bass / MLB.com

The Yankees will try to end their dismal nine-game road trip on a positive note and snap a four-game losing streak when they wrap up their three-game series in Baltimore Thursday at Camden Yards.

Right-hander Chien-Ming Wang will take the mound to make his 13th start of the season. Wang received his only no-decision of the year in his last start, when he left leading San Francisco, 4-3, after allowing four runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings. He's left nine of his 12 starts with the lead, mostly because the Yanks are posting an average of 5.3 runs per game when he starts. Wang is 8-3 in June over his three-year career.

New York will face erratic righty Daniel Cabrera, who can either baffle entire lineups or struggle mightily to throw strikes. In his last start, Cabrera two-hit the Diamondbacks over six innings to record his fifth win of the season. But in each of the two starts prior to that, he surrendered a career-high three home runs and picked up a loss. Cabrera's 49 walks are also tied for most in the Majors.

The Yanks have lost seven of eight games on the road trip and haven't been swept by the Orioles since April 2005.

Pitching matchup
NYY: RHP Chien-Ming Wang (7-4, 3.51 ERA)
Wang is 2-1 with a 4.19 ERA in five career starts against Baltimore, and in his last start at Camden Yards he allowed just one run in 7 1/3 innings to record a win.

BAL: RHP Daniel Cabrera (6-8, 4.98 ERA)
Cabrera is 2-3 with a 3.94 ERA in eight career starts against New York.

Player to watch
Third baseman Alex Rodriguez was 1-for-4 Wednesday and is 8-for-18 (.444) with two home runs in his career against Cabrera.

With A-Rod's help, Wang denies Mets

With A-Rod's help, Wang denies Mets
Major League-leading 27th homer supports 10-strikeout gem
By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Chien-Ming Wang's day started with a rude awakening, the discovery of a stiff neck from sleeping wrong. He ended it right, pitching as though he was in a dream.

Wang struck out a career-high 10 batters and came within one out of a complete game, while Alex Rodriguez clubbed his Major League-leading 27th home run, leading the Yankees past the Mets in Sunday's Subway Series finale, 8-2. The win clinched a series victory and kept momentum on the side of the Yankees, who have won 11 of their last 12 games and 14 of 17.

Complaining of a tight feeling in the right side of his neck, Wang reported to Yankee Stadium well ahead of the players' 5 p.m. ET report time on Sunday, administering heat therapy to help loosen him up for the start.

The treatment didn't completely knock out the kink, but that seemed to be just about all Wang couldn't put under wraps. He limited the Mets to just six hits and mixed in an effective slider and used his changeup often -- more, he said, than in any previous big-league start, complementing his vicious sinker.

The results were striking, as Wang shut the Mets out through six innings before being touched for a run in the seventh inning -- by which time the Yankees had already pieced together a six-run lead -- on a Carlos Delgado double. Otherwise, Wang was dominant going into the final frame, striking out the side around a hit in the eighth inning.

"That's something certainly out of character for him," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "But it gives you an idea -- when he gets that off pitch working for him, the slider or changeup, that really makes a difference for him."

By Wang's 10th and final strikeout, a whiff of Mets spark plug Jose Reyes to end the eighth, Rodriguez said that he looked up and marveled at what the Yankees' "special talent" had achieved.

"I couldn't believe it," Rodriguez said. "I thought it was a different game."

With a series of relievers having risen in the bullpen, only to be seated once again as Wang continued to rifle past the Mets, Torre permitted Wang to go batter-to-batter in the ninth inning as he neared his eventual 113-pitch conclusion.

A route-going effort dangled as a teaser, but Wang allowed a leadoff double to Ramon Castro and a run-scoring hit to Carlos Beltran before getting David Wright to hit into a 5-4-3 double play that put him just one out away from completion.

Torre said that the Yankees had already decided that Wright would be Wang's last batter, no matter the outcome, and Mike Myers came on and struck out Delgado to end the game.

"There was no sense in him going 120 [pitches]," Torre said.

The Yankees built their lead by battering around an old friend, right-hander Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez, who surrendered six runs and seven hits -- including the two-run homer to Rodriguez and a solo shot to Johnny Damon -- before being lifted with two outs in the fifth inning.

The red-hot Rodriguez's blast came with two outs in the first, as the slugger unloaded on a 2-0 pitch and sent it over the left-field wall, the beginning of a three-RBI night for A-Rod. Rodriguez clubbed five home runs on the Yankees' homestand and leads the Majors with 73 RBIs, personal achievements that he said are more enjoyable now that the Yankees have found a formula for success.

"Winning's what makes it all special," Rodriguez said. "April was OK, but we weren't really winning any games, so it was hard to enjoy that. The fact that we're [winning], that's what counts."

Miguel Cairo added an RBI double and Damon had a run-scoring hit in the second, and the Yankees tacked on when Bobby Abreu tripled and came home on a Rodriguez sacrifice fly in the third.

Damon reached Hernandez in the fifth for a solo shot to right, the designated hitter's fourth home run of the season and an extremely good sign for the Yankees, given Damon's recent absence from the lineup due to a mild abdominal strain that the club feared might make him unavailable for use in National League parks.

"I definitely feel like I should be doing better," Damon said. "Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come."

Torre said that the Yankees still haven't come to a decision on where Damon could play, if at all, under NL rules. But Sunday's showcase certainly didn't hurt.

"Doing what he's doing right now has kept him pretty healthy," Torre said. "I'm not saying we're not going to play him in the outfield and we're not going to play him at first base. We're going to have to make a decision."

Jorge Posada completed the Yankees' scoring by ripping a two-run homer, his ninth, off reliever Aaron Heilman in the eighth inning. The power displays provided plenty of support for Wang, who won his fourth consecutive outing and his first career start against the Mets.

After missing the beginning of the season and having a slow beginning, Wang has been rolling, allowing just four earned runs in his last 28 innings.

As the Yankees prepare to embark on a three-city, 10-day road trip to Colorado, San Francisco and Baltimore, Torre said that Wang will have the benefit of an extra day of rest on the upcoming schedule. Pushed back to Saturday, Wang's next outing and an attempt at a fifth straight win will come at San Francisco's AT&T Park, a setting Wang said he was looking forward to due to a large Taiwanese population in the Bay Area.

Of course, there's also one large caveat to that matchup, one that could serve to somewhat interrupt the good feelings of the hurler's recent run.

Yet, when asked about the prospect of facing Giants slugger Barry Bonds in less than a week, Wang simply showcased the smile of a man with weapons of confidence at his disposal.

"Keep the ball down," he said, grinning.

Abreu, Bombers extend streaks

Abreu, Bombers extend streaks
Right fielder turns it up to 11, Yanks win seventh straight
By Caleb Breakey / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- A mass of colors spotted the field during a rain delay at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday. Members of the grounds crew wore white tops. Security guards sported yellow polo shirts. Arizona players warmed up in their Sedona red jerseys.

The colors had no significance other than resembling a banana split. At least, that's how it first appeared.

Then the Yankees took the field.

If ever there was attire that took on meaning, it would be fashioned with pinstripes. Sure, they're just uniforms. But are they really?

The mystique surrounding those wearing black piping from collar to cleat seems to be back, especially after the Yankees beat the Diamondbacks, 4-1, for their seventh straight win.

"This isn't happening because it's just a coincidence," manager Joe Torre said. "This is happening because they're working hard, and they're not going to be denied."

Most of Tuesday's game hinged on the first inning.

Designated hitter Johnny Damon reached on an error to start the game and attempted to steal second with Derek Jeter at the plate. The captain hit a sharp grounder toward the left side -- what appeared to be a double-play ball -- but Arizona shortstop Stephen Drew had raced to his left to cover second.

Normally, second baseman Orlando Hudson would have covered the bag because Jeter is a right-handed hitter. But, as Torre noted, Jeter is at his best when he hits to the right side of the field -- and Hudson knew it.
The grounder went for a hit, and Damon scooted to third.

Bobby Abreu came up next, and with two on and nobody out, the Yankees knew that this could be their only opportunity against Arizona starter Brandon Webb, who won the National League Cy Young Award in 2006.
Webb hadn't given up a run in his past two starts, a total of 15 innings in which the right-hander also struck out 15. But Abreu, who has faced Arizona pitching more than every other current Yankee, hit a Webb sinker into the right-field stands for a 3-0 lead.

"I hit it good up front, hit a homer, we won, that's what it's all about," Abreu said. "He's tough. He's got pretty good pitches and nice command, too. He knows what to do on the mound. He won the Cy Young because he knows how to pitch. ... He just threw me one pitch that hung in there, and it's good that I caught it out front and hit it."

What could have been a double-play ball ended up setting the stage for the game-winning hit.

"All of a sudden, it made the difference in the game," Torre said. "You don't think it does that early in the game, but it certainly looked that way."

Starting with the eruption after Abreu's three-run homer, continuing through starter Chien-Ming Wang's seven strong innings and ending with Mariano Rivera's fourth June save, the fans hooted, hollered and roared.
The Yankees are back to winning, and their fans are back to enjoying it.

"They're here to support us, but they let you know what they want to see," Torre said. "It's more electricity right now."

Wang pitched the way he's been pitching since May 16, against the White Sox, and has held opposing teams to three runs or fewer in his past six starts. He used his secondary pitch -- the slider -- for seven innings against the D-backs to overcome the six hits he allowed.

Jeter had a clear view of Wang on the mound -- every set, every windup, every delivery.

"He's getting better, but it's tough to say he's getting better because he's pretty much been good since he first got here," Jeter said.

The win pushed the Yankees to the .500 mark, as the team's record now sits at 31-31. Torre said that breaking even has a psychological effect, but added that the team can't focus on Boston and the 9 1/2-game gap between the two teams.

With the winning streak, Torre said, smiles, jokes and quirks are spreading. The Yankees are playing like, well, the Yankees.

"I think they feel good about themselves. They really do," he said. "They've gone out here with a lot of fight over the last couple of weeks, and it's really paying dividends for them. I think that's the most important thing. The hard work is paying off, and they sort of like the feeling of going home with a win under their belt."

Notes: Rocket cleared for relaunch

Notes: Rocket cleared for relaunch
Pettitte feels good after bullpen session
By Jon Greenberg / Special to MLB.com

CHICAGO -- It's official: Roger Clemens is ready to return. Again.

Four days after Clemens pulled out of his scheduled season debut with the Yankees, he has been cleared to start Saturday's game at Yankee Stadium against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Mark it down, circle it, whatever. The Rocket is back.

"It's a huge boost for us," Johnny Damon said, no pun intended.

Clemens threw 54 pitches in a live batting practice session at the Yankees' Minor League complex in Tampa, Fla., on Wednesday. He worked out of the stretch and faced both left- and right-handed hitters in what manager Joe Torre described as a simulated game designed to test the restraints of Clemens' fatigued groin.

"Everything today went well," Clemens said in a statement released by the Yankees. "I have a short downhill training session [Thursday] and then I should be locked in and ready to go. The weakness that came from the scar tissue has so far dispersed. Today's bullpen session was a little more intense than a regular side session. Normally, I would throw about 60 percent, but today I threw closer to 80 percent."

Torre hadn't spoken to Clemens but said he got good reports on his performance.

With the Yankees off to a dismal start -- 11 1/2 games back of first place in the AL East going into Wednesday's game against the White Sox -- the expectations for Clemens are magnified. For some, he won't just be pitching against the Pirates; he'll be trying to strike out the first two months of the season.

"I don't think we can concern ourselves with [expectations], because they're going to be what they are, because of his status and where he's going when he does decide to pack it in," Torre said. "There are going to be high expectations, but that's followed him no matter where he's gone. We know basically what we need from him and hopefully, it doesn't get too out of whack."

While some players have tried to distance themselves from the notion of Clemens acting as a Texas-sized salve for the Yankees' ailments, everyone is still pretty excited about filling the open rotation spot with a future Hall of Famer, to go along with Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte, Chien-Ming Wang and rookie Tyler Clippard.

"I'm sure we'll be a better team, just with the fact that we have him," Damon said. "Just the presence of Roger Clemens on the mound can get people out."

Torre is preaching patience to Clemens, giving him an easy out if he feels any pain Thursday in his workout.

"I basically told him, if you feel anything, if something isn't right, don't hesitate to tell us," Torre said.

Pettitte ready to go: Pettitte judged himself ready to start Friday's series opener against the Pirates after throwing a bullpen session before Wednesday's game. He suffered back spasms in his last start Sunday in Boston, and pushed back his bullpen a day.

"I threw, I felt good. I felt real good actually," he said. "I'm going to pitch Friday. I heated up and threw a good 'pen today."

Pettitte (3-4, 2.96) said his back hadn't been bothering him recently and that he didn't anticipate any more problems before his session Wednesday.

"I don't want it to act up again, that's where I'm at," he said. "If there's any concern, that's where it is."

Young and restless: Clippard, the Yankees' baby-faced starter, took a break from chuckling at reruns of "The Office" on his iPod on Wednesday to talk about his excitement on pitching in the same rotation as Clemens.

"It's awesome, man," the 22-year-old right-hander said. "I never in a million years could've predicted that. I'm just excited to meet him and talk to him about some things and see what he has to say. It's going to be fun.

"Anything he has to say, I'm definitely going to be all ears about. Whether it's what he does in-between starts -- he's stayed healthy a long time now, which is a big deal for a lot of people -- or any stuff like that. Anything is going to be helpful."

With his lanky frame and arms-akimbo delivery, Clippard is hardly intimidating on the mound, but he's getting the job done. He pitched five solid innings in the Yankees' 7-3 win Tuesday, giving up one run to push his record to 3-1 and lower his ERA to 3.60. What did he learn from his second straight win?

"Every outing, you try and learn new things, but basically just to continue to go after guys and get ahead, because that's a big deal, especially at this level," he said.

News and notes: Miguel Cairo got his second straight start at first on Wednesday, after starting two double plays, picking up two singles and driving in a run on Tuesday. "He's an infielder and we have a ground-ball pitcher going," Torre said of Chien-Ming Wang. "Hopefully he's a ground-ball guy today." ... Clippard's outing marked the 26th time a rookie has started a game for the Yankees this season. According to the team, the last time that happened was in 2001 when rookies started 36 times, including 21 for Ted Lilly. ... Torre said he expects to give Derek Jeter a day off Thursday as the Yankees finish the four-game series with the White Sox with a 7:11 CT game. "I think [he will be] off, with the flight and everything tomorrow," Torre said. After Tuesday's game Torre joked he might have to "chloroform" Jeter to get him a day off. He has played in 56 of the team's 57 games. ... The White Sox declared Wednesday "Cicada Night," and the festivities included someone dressed up as a giant Cicada-like insect and danced around foul territory before the game. The promotion caused Torre to chuckle and recount an old cicada story from "1996 or 97" involving his family. ... The Yankees are honoring a 12-year-old Bronx boy who helped police foil a robbery in his apartment last week by inviting him to the team's game against the Pirates on Friday. Edwin Alamo and his family will get to tour the stadium and have access to batting practice as a well as "great seats" to the game, according to a team release.

Coming up: RHP Mike Mussina (2-3, 6.25) faces off against former Yankee Jose Contreras (4-5, 4.29) in the series finale at U.S. Cellular Field. Mussina is 0-2 in his last four starts and hasn't won since May 9.

Wang goes the distance for win
Four-run third eases right-hander's complete-game effort
By Jon Greenberg / MLB.com

CHICAGO -- Chien-Ming Wang's best game of the season was probably last month in Seattle, when he lost a perfect game in the eighth after retiring the first 22 hitters.

"That game was pretty good," Yankees manager Joe Torre said, shaking his head. "Why do you have to remind me about those things?"

Maybe Wang's stuff was a touch off his Seattle best on Wednesday in Chicago, but his performance was more meaningful and just as dominating. Wang threw the Yankees' first complete-game victory since, well, his last one on July 28, 2006, against Tampa Bay (a 6-0 win), as the Yankees backed him up with a four-run third inning en route to a 5-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox for their second straight win.

The 27-year-old Wang notched his third complete game, using all of his pitches -- slider, curveball and sinker especially -- to shut down an occasionally potent White Sox lineup. Wang, who won for the fourth time in five starts to improve to 5-4, gave up five hits and one walk, while striking out four. He needed only 104 pitches. To put that number in perspective, he threw 112 pitches in 5 2/3 innings in his last start.

"He's very business-like about what he does and he's pretty good at it," Torre said.

"He threw the ball incredible today," said Alex Rodriguez, whose two-run single with the bases loaded highlighted the third, the club's second four-run frame in as many days. "That was probably as good a game as he's thrown with the Yankees, as far as I can remember."

Wang's performance gave the bullpen a much-needed rest. Mike Mussina worked five innings Saturday, Andy Pettitte left in the fifth Sunday, Matt DeSalvo couldn't make it out of the second on Monday and Tyler Clippard went just five Tuesday. With Mussina going Thursday, Pettitte Friday and Roger Clemens making his season debut Saturday, the bullpen may be called again pretty soon to do some heavy lifting.

"It's very important," Torre said of Wang's outing. "Especially because we went through some people in the bullpen [Tuesday] night and we had a long weekend. That was a big lift."

Torre praised Wang for using his slider and curveball to set up his heavy sinker, inducing 14 groundouts. The White Sox only run came on a Juan Uribe groundout in the third.

"Some days his sinker is better than other days," Torre said. "Today, it was pretty good, it was exploding. But he threw some real good sliders today. He struck out Uribe on a slider [in the sixth]. He was throwing some good pitches."

Wang said he felt in control of all of his pitches and slowed his pace accordingly. No one approached him to see if he wanted out before the ninth, and he thought nothing of the complete game.

"The team win is most important," he said.

The Yankees surely appreciate that thought. They have a chance to win the four-game series Thursday night and claim back-to-back series for the first time this season. Another win would also give them a three-game winning streak for just the third time this season. They've yet to win four straight.

"[Wednesday] we can do something we haven't done in a while, win three in a row," Torre said.

The Yankees gave Wang all the runs he needed in the third. No. 9 hitter Miguel Cairo, who started at first base for the second straight game, led off the inning with a single, stole second, and scored on Johnny Damon's double. Derek Jeter singled, Bobby Abreu walked and Rodriguez scored two with a hit to center. After a slow start out of the box, he was called out sliding into second, though replays showed he may have been safe. A-Rod argued with second-base umpire Gary Darling, and Torre came out to argue as well. Sox starter Javier Vazquez then walked Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui's sac fly scored Abreu. The sacrifice turned into a double play as Posada was tagged out going to second to end the inning.

"That was a good inning for us," Rodriguez said. "For all of our pitchers, we like to score runs early and often to get them some confidence."

Damon, looking invigorated in his role as the designated hitter, had two doubles, and Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera and Cairo each had two hits. Posada added his 21st double of the season, just six shy of his total last year, and Abreu added his third homer in the eighth.

Cabrera had a highlight throw in center in the sixth, gunning down speedy Jerry Owens at the plate on a Tadahito Iguchi single.

"Amazing," said Damon, the erstwhile center fielder. "I'm not sure anybody has a better arm in the game. There are not too many center fielders who can stop a running game. He's been incredible."

Vazquez (3-4) gave up four runs, seven hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out seven. Damon doubled to lead off the game, but Vazquez struck out the next three batters.

Big inning lifts Yanks past Sox

Big inning lifts Yanks past Sox
Posada's three-run double caps six-run fourth at Fenway
By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

BOSTON -- For a Yankees team in need of something to kick off an unimaginable climb, some steam under the collar might be the perfect catalyst.

The Yankees were hot all around on Friday, showcasing offensive outbursts against a familiar foe, rage from their mild-mannered leader and another snapshot shouting match on the Fenway Park turf.

It wasn't brisk, cooler heads didn't always prevail and it certainly wasn't pretty, but the Yankees were willing to swap their sweat-soaked shirts, caps and manager for a victory, pounding out a 9-5 decision over the Red Sox.

"We need to be a little more fiery," said Joe Torre, who watched the remainder of the game from the visiting clubhouse after a fifth-inning ejection.

"I'm not saying I'll be a new person. It's not a plan. We showed some fight tonight, something we really need to go out there and assert ourselves."

By the time Torre turned over his lineup card to bench coach Don Mattingly, he'd already witnessed the best the Bombers' bats were going to produce, taking advantage of an ineffective Tim Wakefield.

As the right-hander's trademark knuckleball danced erratically, the Yankees piled on Wakefield for eight runs in 3 2/3 innings in securing the game early.

Robinson Cano slugged a two-run homer and Johnny Damon worked a bases-loaded walk to open scoring in the second inning, and the Yankees added six more runs in the fourth with the benefit of two passed balls and a wild pitch. The big hit in the 10-batter frame was Jorge Posada's three-run double off reliever Kyle Snyder, who assumed duties after Wakefield threw 81 pitches in just 3 2/3 innings.

"We had great at-bats," Posada said. "We got people on base and that big hit came. It's just a matter of being more patient."

"It's definitely a great way to start June," said Johnny Damon. "Here we go. This month is so important for us. We need to make up ground; not just a game or two, but five or six games. We need to get on a roll."

The Yankees seemed on the verge of adding more in the fifth, as long-struggling Bobby Abreu opened the frame by banging an offering off the Green Monster in left-center field, chugging into second base with his second double of the game.

An out and a walk later, Abreu took off for third base and appeared to get his foot in ahead of the tag, but umpire Jerry Crawford punched Abreu out.

Later, with the Red Sox in the midst of a pitching change, Torre ventured back out for a second review, but Crawford had little interest in reliving it, running Torre in a heated commercial-break display witnessed live by only the 36,785 on hand.

"He got hot, I got hot, and the result is I'm sitting in here," Torre said later from the manager's office.

"It's fun to see," Posada said. "He got his money's worth."

Having showcased a varied repertoire to best the Red Sox in his last effort against them, starter Chien-Ming Wang continued to tread carefully against Boston's lineup -- at least, until the bats blasted open the doors.

With a 13 1/2-game deficit entering play Friday, there is a certain immediacy to every action taken by a player in pinstripes -- just ask Alex Rodriguez -- whether construed as desperation or aggressiveness. Friday brought more of the latter than the former, with even a meager two-game winning streak appearing as a tantalizing prize at Wang's workload.

"He's pitched some big games for us," Torre said. "Tonight was a huge game. We really haven't been able to string anything together."

The right-hander threw 75 pitches through the first three innings, touched for runs by David Ortiz's single and Julio Lugo's groundout in the second inning, plus Dustin Pedroia's double to left in the third.

Torre said that the effort wasn't exactly vintage Wang, but it evolved over the course of the night.

"He never uses that many pitches early in the game," Torre said. "Once we got the lead for him, he was somebody else."

Given the large advantage, Wang settled and worked into the sixth before handing duties off to reliever Mike Myers, who struck out Ortiz, the only batter he faced. Wang scattered 10 hits and walked two, striking out one in a 112-pitch outing.

Relievers Brian Bruney and Kyle Farnsworth held the American League East-leading Red Sox at bay in the seventh and eighth innings, but a mundane ninth inning erupted into much more when right-hander Scott Proctor -- as he insisted -- lost control of an inside fastball, brushing Kevin Youkilis on the sleeve and helmet.

The Boston infielder wasn't quite as understanding, briefly strutting out toward the mound before being intercepted by Posada and setting off an incident that dumped both benches and bullpens into a skirmish of finger-pointing and accusations.

Proctor -- who served a four-game suspension and paid a $1,500 fine earlier this season for throwing intentionally at Seattle's Yuniesky Betancourt -- pleaded his case with home-plate umpire Brian O'Nora, and later said he sympathized with the plunked batter as well.

"I can understand why Youkilis would be mad at me," Proctor said. "Any time you get a ball thrown at your head, I'd be [ticked] too."

Proctor said he planned to appeal to O'Nora again later, but for the moment, he was reduced to raging up the tunnel to Torre's office, swearing up and down to the also-ejected manager that his 2-2 offering to Youkilis had slipped away and was not a retaliation purpose pitch for three previous Yankees hit-by-pitches in the game by three different Boston pitchers.

Proctor's ejection forced the Yankees to use three relievers to protect what began the ninth inning as a six-run lead, as Ron Villone allowed a single to Ortiz and the acting manager Mattingly lifted the veteran lefty after one pitch to Manny Ramirez, calling upon Mariano Rivera to record the final two outs.

It was borderline unorthodox and arduously time-consuming, but the Yankees could handle that given their reward. No one seemed inclined to complain about a few more minutes spent on the field.

"Winning makes a lot of things well," Posada said. "The way we're playing now, it feels right."