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Friday, July 13, 2007

Wang looks to stay on a roll vs. Rays

Wang looks to stay on a roll vs. Rays
New York (43-44) at Tampa Bay (35-54), Saturday, 7:10 p.m. ET

By Dawn Klemish / MLB.com

After dropping the second game of the series against the Devil Rays, the Yankees will look to Chien-Ming Wang on Saturday to right the ship.

Wang's on a hot streak of his own, having tossed 13 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings and recording wins against both the Twins and Angels.

The righty has changed the angle of his delivery after dealing with arm-slot issues, and the results have been nothing but positive so far. He's 6-0 over his last eight starts, and holds a 2.72 ERA during that span.

Opposing him for the Rays is rookie Andy Sonnanstine, who will make his first start against the Yankees. Sonnanstine isn't overpowering, but he uses a mixture of arm angles, pitches and speeds to keep hitters on their toes.

Sonnanstine left with the lead in his last outing after holding the Royals to three earned runs, but fell shy of his second career win when the bullpen could not secure the lead. Sonnanstine lasted seven innings in the start, walked one, fanned one and threw 66 of his 97 pitches for strikes.

Pitching matchup
NYY: RHP Chien-Ming Wang (9-4, 3.36 ERA)
Wang has a career-low 2.15 ERA in July.

TB: RHP Andy Sonnanstine (1-3, 5.36 ERA)
Lefties are hitting .309 against Sonnanstine.

Player to watch
Derek Jeter is hitting 24-for-64 (.375) against Rays pitching over the last 15 games, with at least one hit in each contest.


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