About Chien-Ming Wang

Full Name: Chien-Ming Wang
Born: 03/31/1980
Birthplace: Tainan, Taiwan
Height: 6'3" Weight: 225
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
College: Taipei Physical Education College
MLB Debut: 04/30/2005

Wang outdone by Beckett in Boston

Wang outdone by Beckett in Boston

Yanks' ace chased in sixth inning; deficit back to 5 1/2 games

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

BOSTON -- On an afternoon when Josh Beckett freely gassed batters with swing-and-miss stuff, the more soft-spoken Chien-Ming Wang was unable to make much of a statement.

While Beckett three-hit the Yankees over seven innings, Wang -- also a front-runner for the American League Cy Young Award -- had his troubles with the Red Sox, taking the loss in a 10-1 Yankees defeat on Saturday afternoon.

"You know, it wasn't one of his great days," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "What can I say? Beckett was great. He came at us and kept coming at us, and we couldn't mount any kind of offense."

Wang had heard some of the whispers about how his mid-September showdown in the creeping shadows at Fenway Park could help influence voting, but it is a postseason berth -- not awards -- that the Yankees must harbor the most concern about.

With five Boston runs home in 5 2/3 innings, it was a bad day to have a bad day.

"Sometimes, I lost my control," Wang said. "Other times, they got hits."

The Yankees can call a relatively steady 2 1/2-game lead their own in the AL Wild Card race, but they have insisted upon dangling heartier aspirations toward the division, making up some emotional ground with a miraculous comeback on Friday night that made some wonder if nothing was impossible.

Yet if that carrot was to be reached, a three-game New England sweep -- shades of last season's five-game Boston Massacre -- would have made New York's most damaging dent in the AL East deficit, which returned to 5 1/2 games.

"Certainly, it would have made it more reasonable," Torre said of a win on Saturday. "In this game, anybody is capable of losing three or four in a row, or winning three or four in a row. Things turn real quickly."

That much is certain. The Yankees' six-run eighth-inning rally on Friday created little carryover -- in this case, momentum only being as good as the way the offense could handle the next day's starting pitcher.

Beckett made that a difficult proposition. Allowing a solo home run to Derek Jeter in the top of the first but otherwise quieting New York in a seven-inning, seven-strikeout performance, Beckett became baseball's first 19-game winner this season and helped Boston to its largest margin of victory against the Yankees since a 14-3 drubbing last May 9.

"You have to get to him early and get some mistakes, because once he establishes strikes and starts throwing everything, he can work both sides of the plate," said Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi. "That's the biggest thing."

Meanwhile, Wang -- who usually showcases a diving sinker to induce opponents into pounding ground balls to his infielders -- again altered his game plan slightly for the Red Sox, mixing in more sliders and changeups.

But the tweaks didn't take hold, as Wang had slightly more run on his pitches than he wanted. Recording just six of 17 outs on the ground, Wang seemed unable to command the zone, surrendering runs in the first and fifth innings before losing control in the sixth.

"His stuff wasn't as good, as consistent," Torre said. "They're pretty patient, this ballclub. When [Wang] has trouble throwing strikes, a lot of times it's just that his stuff has a lot of movement. He just can't keep it in the strike zone."

Wang was lifted with two outs in the troublesome sixth inning, in which he allowed run-scoring hits to rookie Jacoby Ellsbury and a two-run double to perennial thorn David Ortiz -- hard hits in an inning that also featured a jarring home-plate collision between Jorge Posada and Boston's Eric Hinske, who was called out and left the catcher with a lingering headache that had him sent to Massachusetts General Hospital for precautionary reasons. CT scans taken of Posada's head and neck came back negative.

Posada's friend Jeter expressed little concern, saying that his buddy had a "hard head." Torre deemed the play clean, explaining that Hinske had gone in hard.

"That was just one of those bang-bangers," he said. "We had the infield playing halfway, just hoping we could get a ground ball. We didn't want to play all the way in, because we didn't want to cut down our chances to get an out."

Wang's nine-hit, three-walk performance also featured another potential chapter in the ongoing saga between New York and Boston, one that could have legs as the two teams finalize their 2007 regular-season slate on Sunday. Kevin Youkilis started the sixth-inning rally when one of Wang's 97 pitches inadvertently created a contusion on the first baseman's right wrist.

It was the sixth time in the last two seasons that Youkilis had been drilled by a Yankees pitcher, not including two near-misses by Joba Chamberlain in the teams' last New York meeting.

Both benches were warned by home-plate umpire Gary Cederstrom in the seventh inning, when Beckett came back in and hit Giambi on the right elbow with a pitch -- viewed as retaliation for Wang's drilling of Youkilis earlier in the game, but by the Yankees, not as sound baseball judgment.

"You know what? We didn't hit Youkilis on purpose," Giambi said. "It was a 1-2 pitch, and you've got Papi [on deck] -- like he hasn't done enough damage against us. But I respect it. That's the way I play the game. I don't worry about it."

Boston tacked on three additional runs against the New York bullpen in the seventh, sending 10 men to the plate against five Yankees relievers, who let the game get out of hand. Coco Crisp greeted Brian Bruney with an RBI ground-rule double, and Ellsbury touched Sean Henn for a two-run single before rookie Ross Ohlendorf, making his second Major League appearance, walked in a run.

With just 14 games separating the Yankees from the final outs of the regular season, and just nine regulation innings left head-to-head with Boston, odds would appear to be overwhelming that New York's best chance of continuing its string of postseason appearances lies within the Wild Card.

Still, the Yankees don't appear ready to concede the division until the laws of mathematics insist they must.

"We're trying to win every day," Jeter said. "That's the approach we have to have. A couple weeks from now, we'll see what happens."

A-Rod's 52nd helps Wang win 18th

A-Rod's 52nd helps Wang win 18th

Home run in fifth straight game contributes to sweep of Royals

By Conor Nicholl / MLB.com

KANSAS CITY -- Often overshadowed by his own teammates and several other high-profile starting pitchers, Chien-Ming Wang sometimes hasn't received due credit for his results. But Yankees manager Joe Torre said he considers Wang "one of the big guys," someone who is a true ace.

"But there is always somebody else that is going to get more attention than him," Torre said.

That may still be true after Sunday's performance, but Wang's results are necessitating as much publicity and discussion regarding the Cy Young Award as several of the American League's elite pitchers, including Johan Santana, Josh Beckett and C.C. Sabathia. Wang tossed seven innings of three-run ball on Sunday and earned the win in the Yankees' 6-3 victory over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

"I think he is [one of the best]," catcher Jorge Posada said. "I think he has proven a lot. He gets better and better every time he goes out there. He is showing it and not saying anything about it.

"He is very low-key and very quiet about it, and I think that is why people are not giving him the credit that he deserves. I think he deserves all the credit in the world."

The win lengthened New York's lead to four games ahead of the Detroit and five ahead of Seattle in the AL Wild Card race. The Yankees have won five straight games, their longest streak since Aug. 3-7.

On Sunday, Wang's batterymate and his third baseman provided the help. Posada broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run double in the fifth inning.

Alex Rodriguez continued his assault on the record books with his 52nd homer of the season, his fourth of the series and his seventh in the Yankees' past five games.

Rodriguez has homered in five consecutive games, tying a career high. The long ball also gave him a Major League-leading 140 RBIs this season, marking just the fifth time a Yankees player has driven in 140 runs since 1939.

"What Alex has done in the short period of time is pretty amazing," Torre said.

The offense supplied plenty of support for Wang, who earned his 18th win this season and kept a tie for the Major League lead with Boston's Beckett, who also won his 18th on Sunday.

Wang also ranks second in the AL in winning percentage (.750) and lowered his ERA to 3.69, just outside of the top 10. New York is 8-1 in Wang's last nine starts.

"He is our horse," Posada said. "He is our No. 1. You try to get him some runs. ... He has been very, very key for us."

Wang, who missed time at the beginning of the season with a strained right hamstring, has the chance to become the first 20-game winner in the Major Leagues in the last two seasons. In 2006, Wang led the Majors with 19 wins and finished second in the voting for the AL Cy Young Award.

"He certainly hasn't done anything wrong," Torre said of Wang's Cy Young chances. "And any time you pitch with the urgency to win -- Beckett is doing the same thing, obviously -- it is pretty impressive. This kid -- how quickly he has turned into someone you count on, on a regular basis -- I think is very impressive."

Before the game, Posada approached Wang and told him to shorten his stride slightly. Kauffman Stadium's mound is flatter than most, and Posada wanted to make certain that Wang still kept his sinker down.

Wang was efficient, tossing just 25 pitches through three innings. He had some trouble in the fourth, when he permitted a three-run double to Alex Gordon on a sinker that was supposed to be away but was left in the middle of the plate.

But Wang quickly settled down and tossed scoreless innings in the fifth, sixth and seventh. He tied a season high with four walks but coaxed 11 ground-ball outs.

"I just forgot about it and slowed down," Wang said of Gordon's game-tying double.

Afterward, Torre said that Wang was a "little Jekyll and Hyde," but it's a testament to Wang that he didn't have his best stuff and was still able to produce a quality start.

"He can get away with stuff," Posada said. "He can get away with not having a sinker. He can get away with not having a changeup or a split-finger. He has been that effective."

Wang went at least six innings for the 18th time in his last 19 starts and the 25th time in 27 starts this season. While the injury short-circuited any chance the right-hander would have of leading the AL in innings pitched, few starters have consistently worked deeper into games. Wang has averaged more than 6 2/3 innings per outing, one of the top marks in the AL.

"He has been able to throw his slider for a strike and been able to expand the zone with his fastball," Posada said.

Wang received the necessary run support when Rodriguez hit his 52nd homer of the season -- and fourth this series -- off Zack Greinke in the first inning, giving the Yankees a 2-0 lead. A-Rod is the Majors' leader in runs scored (132), RBIs and homers.

"It's a magical season," Rodriguez said. "I am enjoying it. The reason I am getting pitched to is those guys behind me."

Four innings later, one of those guys behind him -- Posada -- broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run double off John Bale down the right-field line.

"We got some guys on base, and you want to try and stay in the middle of the field," Posada said. "You have a left-hander in there, and I got a great pitch to hit."

And that was all Wang needed for another quiet win.

Minor injury scares for A-Rod, Wang

Minor injury scares for A-Rod, Wang

Slugger may sit out Wednesday; righty's stiffness 'not an issue'

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- The Yankees would prefer not to imagine what their roster would look like if they simultaneously lost the services of both their winningest pitcher and most prolific slugger.

And yet, in the span of one inning, they nearly found out.

Alex Rodriguez twisted his right ankle sliding headfirst into third base in the Yankees' seven-run seventh inning on Tuesday, en route to a 12-3 victory over the Mariners. A half-inning later, Chien-Ming Wang took the mound for the eighth inning but was pulled with lower-back stiffness.

Now for the exhale. Though he complained that his ankle -- rolled over by Mariners third baseman Adrian Beltre -- was "a little sore," Rodriguez underwent X-rays that came back negative, taken on the premises of Yankee Stadium following the game.

Rodriguez left open the possibility that he may need to rest on Wednesday, as the Yankees wrap up their Wild Card-tinged series with the Mariners.

"A little scary," said Rodriguez, who hit his Major League-leading 46th homer in the victory. "But we'll see how it feels in the morning."

"I knew it was going to take me a long time to get to third base, and I didn't want bad news when I got there," manager Joe Torre said. "Then, when I saw him get up on his knees, it made me feel better. But that was scary, the way he went down. There's so many things that can happen."

The Yankees explained Wang's stiffness by pointing to the lengthy seventh inning, in which New York sent 12 men to the plate against three Seattle pitchers.

With a low pitch count and the Yankees having staked Wang to a large lead, the right-hander opened the eighth inning, throwing two pitches to pinch-hitter Jeremy Reed. Both offerings set off red flags in the mind of catcher Jorge Posada, who trotted to the mound and checked on Wang after Reed chopped to second base.

"He asked me if I was OK," Wang said. "I said, 'I'm OK.' I could not get loose."

That, Posada said, was enough to wave to the Yankees' bench for a coaching visit. Enough was enough.

"I was not going to let him pitch," Posada said. "It just didn't look good -- the two pitches he threw, something about it didn't look right. I just wanted to make sure he was OK. He told me he felt tight, and I told the dugout to come out.

"You don't want him to get hurt. He's too valuable. I just wanted to make sure he was OK."

Wang said he received only normal ice treatment on the back and that he was feeling better after the game. Since he will not pitch on seven days' rest with a long layoff upcoming due to two off-days in the schedule, the Yankees had little concern the issue would follow him.

Pitching coach Ron Guidry and Torre both blamed the stiffness on the lengthy preceding inning, since Wang opened the eighth at just 84 pitches.

"Sitting down for 45 minutes, that's it," Guidry said. "Most of the time, it's five minutes, 10 minutes. When you sit down for 40 or 45 minutes, your back gets tight, especially late in the game."

"You could see when he threw the first couple of pitches, he didn't bend his back," Torre said. "It was just stiffness. It's not an issue. I think it was just a long inning."

Asked if Wang perhaps should have admitted that his back was stiff before opening the eighth inning, the catcher shuffled the question off to the 27-year-old right-hander. With 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball in the books on the way to win No. 17, Wang could do little wrong.

"You don't want him to get hurt," Posada said. "He's too valuable. I just wanted to make sure he was OK."

Wang's 17th extends Wild Card lead

Wang's 17th extends Wild Card lead

Yankees righty pushes Mariners two back with 7 1/3 innings

By Anthony DiComo / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- There's no denying how much the Yankees need strong pitching performances every night, and there's no cheapening how valuable an ace like Chien-Ming Wang can be.

But when the Yankees' offense is clicking, it's hard to imagine any of that mattering.

Wang allowed one run in 7 1/3 innings against the Mariners, guiding the Yankees to a 12-3 win and pushing their American League Wild Card edge back to two games. And while the Yankees needed that dominance early, they weren't quite as dependent on it later, after the offense awoke for three runs in the sixth inning and seven more in the seventh to blast open the game.

The Yankees drilled four home runs in all -- one each from Alex Rodriguez and Bobby Abreu, and two from Jorge Posada -- and tallied up 19 hits. Eight of those came in the seventh, when the Yankees sent 12 batters to the plate and scored more than half of them. By the time that rally was complete, every Yankees starter other than Hideki Matsui had collected at least one hit and one RBI, and Matsui reached base twice himself.

Abreu and Robinson Cano had four hits apiece, while A-Rod, Posada and Wilson Betemit also chipped in with multi-hit games. By the time Wang left the game in the eighth, the Yankees had already taken a 10-run lead and replaced a third of their regulars with reserves.

And in the end, all of that overshadowed Wang's brilliance. The right-hander needed only 86 pitches to cruise into the eighth, allowing just five hits and an isolated Adrian Beltre home run. He struck out only on7 but induced 17 ground-ball outs, leaving to a standing ovation.

The Yankees survived a scare in the seventh inning, when Rodriguez, attempting to go from first to third base on a Posada single, slid headfirst into the third-base bag. A-Rod rolled over and clutched his right knee in pain, but after a short delay and a visit from the training staff, he remained in the game. Alberto Gonzalez replaced him for his second at-bat of the inning, with the Yankees having already built a 10-run lead.

Gator-aid: Wang's gem sinks Sox

Gator-aid: Wang's gem sinks Sox

Ace takes game to new level thanks to Guidry's guidance

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- They walked side-by-side out a blue concrete corridor, through the bowels of Yankee Stadium and up to street level: the 6-foot-3 ace hurler holding a good size advantage over the club's top pitcher some three decades prior.

Clutching a Coca-Cola cup and clad in a baggy Nike T-shirt, Chien-Ming Wang looked down at his pitching coach, Ron Guidry, listening attentively. Wang understood that, even within his afternoon's importance, he still had some growing to do.

Wang took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Robinson Cano homered twice, completing a series sweep of the Red Sox with a 5-0 victory on Thursday. Wang allowed just one hit, but it was the free passes -- four of them -- that chafed both teacher and pupil, vowing to improve upon for next time.

"Back to the drawing board," Guidry said.

One day after Roger Clemens took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, Wang did one better, bringing the game into the seventh with the suddenly-dormant Boston offense still holding a zero in the hit column. Mike Lowell finally broke up the no-no bid with a single to right, extending his hitting streak to 12 games.

The right-hander, in command of his sinker, slider and changeup, walked four batters but was able to escape the big hit on his way to victory No. 16, tying for the Major League lead. He even garnered defensive help from an unlikely source -- first baseman Jason Giambi, who dove to his right to stab a Dustin Pedroia shot to end the third inning.

Part of Wang's success may stem back to changes made prior to his Aug. 19 start against Detroit, when Guidry began incorporating several small, hard-to-notice mechanical adjustments. Wang said he has also modified his pitch selection.

"The last two times, I have a lot of change of speeds," Wang said. "More sliders, more changeups. [Catcher Jorge] Posada calls good pitches."

"He's such a joy to work with," Guidry said. "He works hard, even as successful as he is. He still takes your criticism you give him so he can get better."

The victory, completing a sweep on the heels of strong pitching from Andy Pettitte and Clemens, moved New York into sole possession of the American League Wild Card lead. New York closed within five games of the AL East-leading Red Sox.

"We know we're better than what we did in Detroit," manager Joe Torre said, referring to a lost weekend in which the Yankees dropped three of four. "There wasn't anything we had to answer to. You're going to do as well as your pitching, and our starting pitching in this series was terrific."

Those were welcome turns of events for the Yankees, considering their dismal 2-5 road trip to Anaheim and Detroit. Now, with 28 games remaining, optimism abounded.

"Nothing's over until your last out," Cano said. "We've got a month left. We've got to keep playing hard and win games."

Cano had both of the first two big hits for the Yankees, reaching Curt Schilling twice to club his second multi-homer game of the season. Cano drilled a line-drive homer to left-center off Schilling to lead off the third inning and then went right back to Monument Park to start the fifth, drawing a curtain call from the paid matinee crowd of 55,067.

"It was a big game," Torre said, "to have a big game."

Bobby Abreu added an important RBI double off Hideki Okajima in the eighth, the 400th two-base hit of his career. A Jason Varitek throwing error down the left-field line on Abreu's steal attempt allowed two more runs to score.

Schilling lasted seven innings, allowing just the two home runs and six hits, walking one and striking out four. Three of the hits were by Jeter, who singled in the eighth off Okajima to complete a four-hit afternoon.

"We need every game," Jeter said. "I'd tell you the same thing if we beat a high school team three games in a row. We need victories, no matter who we play."

Red Sox manager Terry Francona was ejected on a controversial double play in the seventh, as J.D. Drew grounded to third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who lunged for Kevin Youkilis but missed the tag before throwing to first base. Youkilis was ruled out when Torre complained that Youkilis had run out of the baseline to avoid Rodriguez's tag, planting his feet on the infield grass.

"Alex wasn't trying just to make a token tag, he reached out," Torre said.

Joba Chamberlain threw his 11th scoreless inning around a Pedroia double in the eighth, then unexpectedly returned for duty in the ninth, a decision revolving around pitch count and the lack of a save situation for the warmed-up Mariano Rivera.

"Every once in a while," Torre said, "we're going to take certain liberties."

The maneuver did not constitute a change to the so-called "Joba Rules" which have restricted his use, according to general manager Brian Cashman, just a planned evolution. Cashman insisted that he had no issue with Torre's use of Chamberlain, but did say that he would prefer if the parameters of the "Joba Rules" would remain in-house.

"From my perspective, we have not deviated from anything," Cashman said. "There's a game plan in place and we're sticking to it."

After getting one out in the ninth, Chamberlain was ejected by home-plate umpire Angel Hernandez after twice sailing pitches over Youkilis' head. Chamberlain's final pitch was clocked at 98 mph and drew an immediate reaction from Hernandez.

"There is more than a little bit of history between these clubs," said crew chief Derryl Cousins, the second base umpire. "Those were two pretty nasty pitches the young man threw. Up here, you need to be a little better throwing strikes, and we just had to put a lid on it before there was a problem."

The move left Chamberlain stunned, meandering around the infield between home plate and first base while Torre pleaded his case with the umpiring crew.

"I'm new to this whole game," Chamberlain said. "I want to be aggressive and competitive, but not with a negative connotation."

Timely hitting gives Wang win No. 15

Timely hitting gives Wang win No. 15

Damon's power contributes to Yanks' four-run sixth vs. Tigers

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

DETROIT -- As a rainy marathon inched past midnight and into the early-morning hours, the Yankees literally had to shoo Chien-Ming Wang from the dugout bench at Comerica Park, urging him to flag down a hotel-bound cab and rest.

Begrudgingly, Wang left his teammates and had to later be filled in on the sour details of an extra-inning loss to the Tigers. But the Yankees were glad that he had, especially as Wang pitched eight strong innings and put a win on the board on Saturday night.

Wang allowed two runs (one earned) in a performance that showcased the best of his arsenal, Johnny Damon flashed new life with a home run and Melky Cabrera legged out a three-run triple as the Yankees defeated the Tigers, 7-2.

"Everybody out there understood how important this game was, especially after last night's loss," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "We need to minimize bad stuff."

Wondering if his team was somewhat lethargic after an 11-inning loss to Detroit on Friday, Torre called a brief team meeting before Saturday's game. He said that the gist of his speech was to urge players to put any lingering questions of the umpires' decision to play the game behind them; under orders from Major League Baseball, the crew waited out a four-hour, one-minute rain delay and allowed play to begin shortly after 11 p.m. ET. Torre's advice: Forget it.

"It's over with, let's move on," Torre said. "That's basically all it was."

Given that urging, the Yankees showed signs of renewal. Wang had won four of his last five decisions but, over that span, struggled at times with aggressiveness and trust in his sinker.

After a slow start in the first two innings, he was much improved on Saturday, calling his performance more "smooth." Wang limited Detroit to five hits in a two-walk, six-strikeout effort and credited an adjustment to take advantage of his natural pitch movement.

"Before, I tried to make pitches to the corner," said Wang, who threw more sinkers and showed better control. "Today, I threw it over the plate."

The bullpen-saving outing offered all New York relievers a day of rest except Brian Bruney, who pitched the ninth inning on Saturday but had not appeared in the extra-inning defeat.

"We went through a lot last night," said catcher Jorge Posada. "Wang really stepped up tonight. He was really good today -- really poised, really comfortable and attacking the strike zone. He was doing a lot of things well."

The Tigers scored a first-inning run off Wang when Placido Polanco singled, stole second and scored on a Magglio Ordonez single. Detroit drew to within one run when a sloppy battery display took hold in the fifth, as a passed ball and wild pitch brought Brandon Inge home.

But otherwise, Detroit was kept scoreless. Much of the credit may lie within Wang's work with pitching coach Ron Guidry, who has urged the right-hander to quicken his delivery slightly so as to generate more power as he drives toward the plate.

"I told him, 'Just be more aggressive,'" Guidry said. "He has the ability, when you watch him, to throw it nice and easy and the ball still explodes out of his hand. We've talked about it in the bullpen, being more aggressive at certain times in the game."

Those tweaks translating to an efficient performance, Torre said the Yankees were even tempted to send Wang out for the ninth inning, but they capped his night at 107 pitches after the Yankees had a lengthy top of the inning.

Backing Wang (15-6), the Yankees opened up the game in the sixth with a rarity of back-to-back triples off Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman, who lost his sixth consecutive decision.

Cabrera sliced a bases-loaded drive down the right-field line for a three-base hit; Bonderman's next pitch was ripped to center field, where Curtis Granderson attempted a diving catch, but the ball ticked off his glove and fell to the ground as Damon raced for third.

Bonderman (10-7) allowed seven runs and eight hits in 5 2/3 innings, walking four and striking out none. He surrendered a two-run double up the left-center-field gap to Hideki Matsui in the first inning, one of three hits for Matsui, who has hit safely in 44 of 48 games and appears to be taking to the designated hitter spot -- sporadic as it may be -- with aplomb.

In a limited sample size of 75 at-bats as the Yankees' DH, Matsui has 26 hits, an average of .347.

"To DH on a periodic basis is, in a way to me, kind of refreshing," Matsui said through an interpreter. "You get into the game with that kind of feeling and it kind of reflects the numbers."

Damon hit a solo home run, his eighth, leading off the third. Torre said that with Damon's performances, he sees new spirit: the injury-nagged Damon who ached through most of the first half is gone now, replaced by a player whom Torre says will see regular duty down the stretch.

"To me, he's got a lot of life in his body," Torre said.

That was one reason the outfielder was in the lineup against the Tigers. Another was Damon's apparent mastery of Bonderman; with two hits in four trips on Saturday against the right-hander, Damon improved to 14-for-32 (.437) lifetime when facing him.

Damon still sees left field as an adjustment that is continuing -- he joked that the first ball hit to him on Saturday appeared as though it was "300 feet in the air," and that he was just hoping not to have it hit him in the head -- but with the Yankees needing contributions, Damon has little choice but to accept whatever he's offered.

"I've been there before," Damon said. "I feel like I'm going to try to finish up strong and stay healthy. This is going to be a tough team to beat down the stretch."

Wang to start in finale with Tigers

Wang to start in finale with Tigers

New York (69-54) vs. Detroit (67-56), Sunday, 1:05 p.m. ET

By Caleb Breakey / MLB.com

Chien-Ming Wang is coming off a couple of rough outings, but the right-handed sinkerballer will be looking to get back on track when he faces the Tigers on Sunday at Yankee Stadium.

Yankees manager Joe Torre said Wang just needs to trust his pitches, especially the one that worms fear.

"Sometimes he looks like he gets a little tentative out there, and that comes from not having the same feel he had a month ago," said Torre. "He's basically a sinkerball guy, and that's his bread and butter. Sometimes, he may use the other stuff too much, and that may take some away from it."

In his last start against the Orioles, Wang surrendered a home run to Corey Patterson, snapping a career-best streak of 56 2/3 innings without allowing a home run. The 27-year-old is 12-3 with a 3.79 ERA in his last 18 starts, and, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, Wang's average of 14.4 pitches per inning is the lowest among American League qualifiers this season.

Countering for the Tigers will be Jeremy Bonderman, who eliminated the Bombers in Game 4 of the AL Division Series last October.

Pitching matchup
NYY: RHP Chien-Ming Wang (13-6, 4.09 ERA)
Wang suffered his second consecutive rough outing on Monday, allowing eight hits and five earned runs in six-plus innings against the Orioles. The right-hander struck out two, walked one and surrendered a home run in a no-decision. It came one week after a start in Toronto in which Wang allowed eight earned runs before the third inning. In four career starts against Detroit, he owns a 3-0 record and 2.52 ERA.

DET: RHP Jeremy Bonderman (10-5, 4.65 ERA)
Bonderman picked up a no-decision on Tuesday at Cleveland, with two runs allowed over seven innings and eight strikeouts, but after two first-inning runs, he kept the Tigers in the game for an extra-innings victory. He's 2-4 with a 5.06 ERA lifetime against the Yankees, including 1-2 with a 5.85 ERA at Yankee Stadium.

Player to watch
Brandon Inge has a pretty good career line against Wang in his brief history against the right-hander, going 4-for-12 against him for a .333 batting average.

Yanks walk-off with fourth straight

Yanks walk-off with fourth straight

After Rivera falters in ninth, Yanks rally to take down O's

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- The Yankees did without a quality effort from their ace starter, and were surprised to see their Hall of Fame closer once again turn mortal. By the end, it still didn't matter.

Melky Cabrera scored the winning run on Derek Jeter's ninth-inning dribbler Monday as the Yankees edged the Orioles, 7-6, bailing out ineffective performances from both Chien-Ming Wang and Mariano Rivera.

The Yankees, baseball's best team since the All-Star break, haven't yet found a hurdle that can keep them down in the second half. New York's latest victory, opening a seven-game homestand, was its fourth straight.

"Every time out, we need to try to win, regardless of who's pitching," said Jeter, who connected off Orioles sidearmer Chad Bradford. "Guys aren't going to go out there and pitch perfect at all times. Mo has picked us up plenty of times and it felt good to pick him up."

With home runs from Bobby Abreu and Wilson Betemit, plus another electric inning by rookie Joba Chamberlain, the Yankees delivered a one-run lead to Rivera in the ninth inning, overcoming five runs charged to Wang.

Rivera had converted 19 consecutive save opportunities dating back to April 28, but the Orioles detached the string, despite a terrific throw to home plate by center fielder Melky Cabrera that cut down what would have been the tying run.

It mattered little because one batter later, Brian Roberts dunked a bloop single to right field, scoring Tike Redman ahead of Abreu's high throw home to send the game to the bottom of the ninth, where the Yankees rescued their treasured fireman.

"It's great," Rivera said. "Today I wasn't able to hold the lead, so the guys came back and scored. That's good to see guys picking you up."

In the decisive frame, Cabrera was hit by a one-out pitch and moved to third when pinch-hitter Jason Giambi -- a reflection of the Yankees' suddenly-lethal wealth of bench talent -- punched a single through the right side of the infield.

Jeter followed by getting enough of a check-swing to dribble the ball past Bradford and force the second baseman Roberts to throw home on a fielder's choice, failing to catch Cabrera giving the Yankees their 24th victory in 32 games since the All-Star break.

"We've been on the balls of our feet, basically," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "We're not waiting around for something to happen. We're trying to make things happen."

The Yankees had enough early to bail out a shaky first inning from Wang, who had allowed a season-high eight runs to the Blue Jays in his previous start last Wednesday and gave up three more in the first before settling.

"We made some adjustments during the game, trying to make him realize that pitches were up in the zone," catcher Jorge Posada said. "He felt strong and wanted to throw a little harder, and I told him, 'Less is better.' It helped him a little."

Matched with Orioles right-hander Jeremy Guthrie, Wang proved better Monday, though it didn't start that way. The right-hander was buoyed by Abreu's two-run homer off Guthrie in the bottom half and Betemit's shot in the second.

Wang -- who drew pitching coach Ron Guidry to a bases-loaded situation before he even recorded an out -- was not stellar, but he received enough support to leave as the pitcher of record.

Wang allowed five runs and eight hits over six-plus innings, walking one and struck out two. He said that he needed to keep the ball down and get more on top of the ball, tasks that were more efficient after the first inning.

"It looked like he was trying to be a little too deliberate, trying to make pitches," Torre said. "The way his ball moves, it's very tough for him to do that."

In the fifth, Wang experienced a rarity, giving up a solo home run on a changeup to Corey Patterson -- the first blast allowed by Wang in 56 2/3 innings. Left-hander Ron Villone inherited a runner in the seventh and threw two wild pitches, allowing a run, but otherwise recorded three outs.

Chamberlain nearly stole the show in the eighth, bringing the crowd of 54,398 to chant his first name as he made his Yankee Stadium debut, striking out two in a perfect frame.

"To be honest with you, I didn't even know who I was facing," Chamberlain said. "Sometimes I like it better that way. I just went in and attacked the zone."

New York roughed up Guthrie for six runs and nine hits in 4 2/3 innings, including the two home runs. The right-hander walked two and struck out three, throwing a wild pitch while also allowing run-scoring hits to Posada and Cabrera, who extended his hitting streak to a career-high 18 games with a double in the fourth.

Abreu continued his RBI surge with his 12th blast in the first inning, giving the outfielder 21 RBIs in his last 13 games. Betemit boosted New York with his second blast since joining the Yankees, reaching the wall in front of the right-center bleachers.

"That's how we are," Abreu said. "We know we can score some runs. We've got the team to score a lot of runs. Early in the game, it doesn't matter. We've got late innings and we can make comebacks."

Wang wins 13th as A-Rod stays put

Wang wins 13th as A-Rod stays put
Royals held to one run as third baseman remains at 499 homers
By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- The urgency of Alex Rodriguez's chase for a home run has worn off. The Yankees are too busy putting runs on the scoreboard, with or without A-Rod.

Robinson Cano homered for the third time in four games and Melky Cabrera contributed an unusual two-run infield ground-rule double, backing Chien-Ming Wang and helping the Yankees to a 7-1 victory over the Royals on Friday.

The victory was the Yankees' fourth in five games against cellar-dwelling Kansas City, helping New York improve its record since the All-Star break to a Major League-best 16-7.

"For us, every win is important right now in the second half," Cano said. "[If] we want to make it to the playoffs, we need to win some games."

Rodriguez's last home run came on July 25 at Kansas City, and the return of Royal blue uniforms to the mound didn't spur the Major Leagues' leader off his perch of 35 homers.

Then again, it hasn't mattered -- with Rodriguez joking that perhaps he could become a "choppy hitter," he has concentrated more on a line-drive approach, which translated to a double in three at-bats, plus a sacrifice fly and a walk that spurred a sellout crowd of 54,246 to vociferously boo Royals left-hander Odalis Perez.

"He's there," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "I'm fine. The home run's going to come now, instead of, 'Let's wait for it.' It's just going to come by nature of the fact that he's playing the game of baseball."

With the Yankees scoring 50 runs over their last five games, opponents have had more to worry about than becoming a historical footnote in some future Rodriguez biography.

Cano got the Yankees started by clubbing a mistake breaking ball for a solo shot -- his 11th -- off Perez in the second inning. New York added two runs in the fourth off Perez as Shelley Duncan and Cano singled, moved up on an Andy Phillips sacrifice bunt, then scored on a Jose Molina sacrifice fly -- his first RBI as a Yankee -- and a booming Johnny Damon double to center field.

"I've just got everything going through right now," said Cano, who came back strong after making two errors in Thursday's matinee. "I've been working hard with [hitting coach Kevin Long] on everything the last two weeks, getting here earlier than everybody and hitting in the cage."

In his last 20 games, Cano is batting .462 (36-for-78) with five home runs and 20 RBIs.

"He's so much calmer at the plate -- he's not jumping all over the place, not swinging at everything," Torre said. "He's got a little bit better idea out of the strike zone."

Cabrera, who matched a season high with three hits, brought home a fifth run with an unorthodox ground-rule double in the sixth. Cabrera smacked a liner up the middle that ricocheted off pitcher Ryan Braun's right foot and shot off into the field-level seats behind the Yankees' dugout, allowing Phillips and Molina to score.

"Unbelievable," Cabrera said. "Good swing. Maybe a base hit, but [it was a] double, and two RBIs."

"That ball was smoked," Torre said. "He hit that ball hard. It certainly made the game less stressful for us."

And for Wang, who has gritted past a run of threatening scenarios in his recent starts. He kept that string of success alive by stifling Kansas City.

Wang allowed a run in the second inning as Kansas City strung together three of the seven hits he'd allow, including an RBI single by Ross Gload, but the right-hander otherwise settled in, throwing the hard sinker that the Yankees have long come to savor.

"I didn't try to think too much and played catch with the target," Wang said.

Molina, catching Wang for just the second time, hasn't needed much time to see what all the fuss has been about.

"It's awesome," Molina said. "It's a hard, heavy sinker, and it's hard to pick it up. It's not like 89 [mph]; it's 93 and 94. It's a little bit tough, especially when he's throwing strikes."

Wang hurled seven innings to pick up his team-leading 13th victory and his 10th win in his last 11 decisions, walking one and striking out three. Pitching coach Ron Guidry credited Wang's willingness to make slight alterations to his form for the recent success, which has spanned three consecutive victories.

"He's been predominantly pitching one way, with sinkerballs away," Guidry said. "That's where it's effective. It's tough for him to throw sinkers in to left-handers, because it always comes back over the plate. We talked about [going] in with four-seamers, your best fastballs, 94, 95, 96 mph."

In his chase for history, Rodriguez had a chance to make -- well, history. No batter in Major League history has hit a grand slam for his 500th home run, but Rodriguez came to bat with the bases loaded as part of New York's three-run sixth inning. Rodriguez instead settled for a well-hit sacrifice fly to right.

He'd have one more chance to become the 22nd member of the 500 home run club in the eighth inning, as rain began to pelt the playing field and thunderclaps drew "oohs" and "ahhs" from those fans brave enough not to seek cover.

Working against Braun, Rodriguez jumped on the first pitch and momentarily spurred hope that his long-awaited pursuit was over. His fly ball died in the glove of Royals right fielder Mark Teahen; the cinematic ending was not to be, though A-Rod admitted that a preview had crossed his mind.

"I thought of 'The Natural' there, with the lightning and the rain," Rodriguez said. "I was looking for my 'Wonderboy' bat, but I couldn't find it. It fell a little short, but that was a perfect setting to end this dramatic week."

Wang strong enough to earn 12th win

Wang strong enough to earn 12th win
Five-run eighth inning helps Yankees end Orioles' win streak
By Geremy Bass / MLB.com

BALTIMORE -- The Yankees found themselves in yet another close game against the Orioles on Sunday afternoon, but this time, they found their collective stride at the plate late in the game to march to a 10-6 win.

New York batted around in the eighth inning and awoke for five runs to avoid being swept for the first time in more than a month and end Baltimore's winning streak at six games.

The late surge made a difference, and a multitude of hitters lent a hand in the rally. Johnny Damon, who started in left field for the first time in the three-game series, made a great impact both at the plate and in the field. Damon hit into his first two double plays of the season on Saturday night but rebounded well, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs and four runs scored on Sunday, including an RBI double in the eighth.

"Johnny had a great game offensively, defensively and on the bases," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "That's the kind of game that he can really build on."

Damon preserved the Yankees' 4-2 lead in the fourth inning, when he robbed Orioles second baseman Brian Roberts of an extra-base hit with a leaping grab in the left-center-field gap. Damon last played left field in the Yankees' last win on Wednesday.

"If I don't come up with it, they score two runs and have Roberts on second or third base with some other guys up who are swinging the bats well," Damon said. "That was something I needed to do."

New York used four hits and five walks by Baltimore starter Daniel Cabrera in the first two innings to vault to the early lead. Designated hitter Hideki Matsui hit sacrifice flies in the first and seventh innings and finished with three RBIs, increasing his season total -- second best on the Yankees -- to 71.

Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang worked six solid innings, holding the Orioles to three runs and inducing eight groundouts. Baltimore shortstop Luis Hernandez's two-run single in the third inning did most of the damage against Wang, who improved to 12-5 on the season and won his ninth game in his last 12 tries.

Torre said that the right-hander didn't have his best stuff and looked like he was struggling at times and was frustrated with several calls that he didn't get from home-plate umpire Sam Holbrook. Nevertheless, Wang was able to notch the victory to finish 5-1 in July.

"The thing is, he's made us expect so much," Torre said. "That's to his credit. We assume he's going to do such and such, and we're surprised when he doesn't. He never stops competing. Aside from his natural ability, that's probably the thing that's the best."

Still searching for his 500th career home run, Alex Rodriguez was one of three Yankees starters not to get a hit. He didn't have many opportunities to hit the milestone roundtripper, drawing three walks, including one intentional free pass. Rodriguez came to the plate twice with the bases loaded, but struck out and grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Rodriguez entered the game with good career numbers against Cabrera. He was batting .400 (8-for-20) with two home runs, but the thousands of flashbulbs that hoped for No. 500 were given nothing memorable.

"He just needs [Monday] off probably more than anybody else," Torre said of Rodriguez, who went 0-for-8 with four strikeouts five walks in the series. It's the emotional stuff that's been going on with him."

Besides Rodriguez's disappointing day, New York's offense looked as potent as it was last week, when it scored 63 runs in five games. The Yankees tied season highs with nine walks and eight doubles, including two each from second baseman Robinson Cano and center fielder Melky Cabrera.

"Today, we were patient," said shortstop Derek Jeter, who left the game after the top of the eighth inning due to a sore left shoulder, which he jammed while sliding into home plate in the second inning. Jeter said that his pain is not an issue, and he expects to play when the Yankees open a three-game series with the White Sox at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday.

"We got some good pitches, drew some walks, and it was a good offensive day for us," Jeter added.

Jeter also passed Babe Ruth and moved into fifth place in Yankees history with his three at-bats on Sunday, putting his career total at 7,218.

With the victory, New York improved to 3-6 against Baltimore this season, and Torre echoed his superstar's sentiments after what he called a "huge" victory.

"We made Daniel Cabrera throw strikes," Torre said. "We came alive late [Saturday] night, but after last night's frustrating loss, we came out with a good frame of mind today."

Yanks fall short in finale vs. Jays

Yanks fall short in finale vs. Jays
Winning streak halted as Wang runs into unexpected trouble
By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- When he's at his best, Chien-Ming Wang operates quietly, from his usually soft ground-ball style to his hushed tones in conversing with teammates.

But it was too noisy for Wang to handle the seventh inning on Thursday, as three Toronto runs spoiled six scoreless frames. It was also enough to hold off the Yankees for a 3-2 victory, snapping New York's five-game winning streak and averting a series sweep.

"Of course, I'm disappointed," Wang said through an interpreter. "If I didn't give up the three runs, we would have won the game."

Toronto didn't manage a hit until Vernon Wells stroked a two-out double in the fourth, and Wang seemed his efficient self in limiting the Jays to two hits through six innings.

A group of fans in the upper deck at Yankee Stadium even took to posting signs for each ground ball induced by Wang, much the way power pitchers are greeted with congratulatory "Ks".

"The way he was pitching," catcher Wil Nieves said, "I thought he was going to throw at least eight and just give it to Mariano [Rivera]."

That string came to an end in the seventh, as Matt Stairs opened with a double up the gap in left-center field. Wells reached on an infield tapper up the third-base line that never rolled foul, leaving Wang to scoop the baseball off the grass and trudge back to work.

One out later, Wang was hit on the left ankle by a Frank Thomas comebacker, which Andy Phillips fielded and raced to the bag while Stairs scored Toronto's first run. After a brief inspection on the mound, which included several warmup tosses, Wang then surrendered Aaron Hill's run-scoring triple up the gap, tying the game.

Wang said the ball hit off his ankle wasn't a factor, but suggested he should have mixed in his changeup a little bit more as the Jays got some better swings off him.

Then again, Wang said his approach didn't really differ that much from the first six innings: "Nothing changed," he said. "But in the seventh inning, they just hit it really hard."

It turned out that, on a day when pockets of the sellout crowd of 53,857 celebrated Wang's every ground ball, the right-hander would be done in one.

Catcher Gregg Zaun ripped a ground single past the dive of Robinson Cano in the decisive seventh, bringing home Hill and boosting the Jays to their first lead of the afternoon.

"It's just one of those things," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "It's going to happen. It hasn't happened very often to him, and we didn't give him a whole lot to work with."

"I don't ever feel comfortable against that guy," Zaun said. "Normally, I like facing sinker-slider guys, but he's just a notch above every sinker-slider guy in the league. Right now, it looks like for a long time to come, he's going to be one of the elite guys in all of baseball. It's never a comfortable at-bat."

Wang -- the Yankees' victories leader with 10, including seven straight before Thursday's loss -- would be lifted with one out in the eighth, throwing 89 pitches in a 7 1/3-inning performance, allowing seven hits while walking none and striking out three.

"Another great effort," said designated hitter Johnny Damon, who remained hitless on the homestand after taking an 0-for-3. "He deserved to have won this game. He had a rocky seventh, but he threw the ball well. It's unfortunate we couldn't take advantage of that great pitching."

The Yankees put two runs on the board quickly against Jays starter Dustin McGowan, as Damon and Derek Jeter walked to open the first. Bobby Abreu followed by stroking a two-run double to the gap in left-center field, but McGowan settled in to shut down the threat and limit the Yankees to just four hits over seven innings.

"We were fortunate in the first inning to have two walks and turn it into two runs, but we really couldn't do anything," Torre said. "We just didn't do a whole lot offensively today."

Stifled by McGowan, the Yankees went in order against right-hander Casey Janssen in the eighth inning and briefly sparked hope in the ninth, when Alex Rodriguez greeted closer Jeremy Accardo with a shallow single to right field.

But Accardo induced the final three outs via a pop up, a grounder and a fly ball, leaving the Yankees to feel little shame in getting a bit greedy.

The Yankees have enjoyed much success since the All-Star break, taking three of four from both the Devil Rays and the Blue Jays in successive series, but that didn't necessarily mean they left Yankee Stadium satisfied on Thursday.

As Rodriguez concluded, "When you're up 2-1 at home in the seventh, you feel like it's a must win."
Jeter said that the Yankees had nothing to hang their heads about in the game. New York has won four straight series and seven of nine games, and will welcome the Devil Rays in for yet another four-game series opening Friday.

"We would have liked to have won, but sometimes the other team is going to play better," Jeter said. "We couldn't get anything going. It was just one of those days."

Wang looks to keep rolling

Wang looks to keep rolling
Toronto (45-49) at New York (48-44), Thursday, 1:05 p.m. ET
By Caleb Breakey / MLB.com

Chien-Ming Wang looks to win his eighth consecutive decision when he faces the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on Thursday.

Pitching in the middle of summer bodes well for the right-hander, as Wang owns a career 9-1 record and 2.36 ERA in 10 July starts.

The 27-year-old has pitched at least six innings in each of his past eight starts and 15 of his past 16 this season. On top of that, Wang continues to be one of baseball's best ground-ball pitchers. Only Pittsburgh's Zach Duke has enticed as many ground-ball double plays (21) as Wang.

The Blue Jays counter with Dustin McGowan, who owns a 5-5 record and 5.05 ERA this season. In his career against the Yankees, McGowan is 1-0 with a 4.60 ERA.

Pitching matchup
NYY: RHP Chien-Ming Wang (10-4, 3.43 ERA)
Wang overcame a three-run first inning in his last start before holding the Devil Rays to seven hits through six innings of work to earn the victory. The 27-year-old struck out six without walking a batter against the Rays, retiring 16 of the 17 batters who followed Delmon Young's first-inning double. This will be the right-hander's first look at the Blue Jays this season.

TOR: RHP Dustin McGowan (5-5, 5.05 ERA)
McGowan has posted a 0.82 ERA in his past three wins and a 13.11 ERA in his past three losses. It just so happens that his last start on Saturday was one of his rougher outings, as McGowan surrendered six runs -- including three home runs -- in five-plus innings in a loss to the Red Sox.

Player to watch
Aaron Hill has had his way with Wang in six career at-bats. Hill has gone 4-for-6 against Wang, and two of those hits went for doubles.

Abreu's five RBIs lift Yanks past Rays

Abreu's five RBIs lift Yanks past Rays
Right fielder belts go-ahead homer; Wang notches 10th win
By Dawn Klemish / MLB.com

ST. PETERSBURG -- The Yankees did a lot of things right on Friday. Everything but win, that is, after a big inning doomed them. On Saturday, New York made sure to redeem itself.

It was much the same scenario on Saturday as it was one night prior, with New York down three early after its starter battled through a rocky frame. The Yankees weren't about to go down without a fight two nights in a row.

Thanks to Bobby Abreu, they didn't have to.

"Last year, when we got him, he was such a perfect fit for what we do," manager Joe Torre said of Abreu, who had five RBIs in the Yankees' 6-4 win over the Rays on Saturday at Tropicana Field. "And tonight was another example. It was a great game for him."

Abreu had bases-loaded RBI groundouts in the third and seventh innings to push across runs, and added a go-ahead two-run shot to left field in the fifth to lead New York's charge. The icing on the cake was his ninth-inning run-scoring double.

"It was such a good day," Abreu said. "I felt very good out there and helped the team win, I think that's what really mattered."

But it's kind of been like that for the right fielder, who's hit 5-for-11 since the All-Star break with a pair of home runs and seven RBIs. Already enjoying a productive second half, he has proven himself a big key to the Yankees' success this season. Consider this: Abreu's hitting .377 (66-for-175) with six homers and 40 RBIs when New York wins, and just .158 (25-for-158) with one home run and nine RBIs over their 44 losses.

"Of course [the lineup's] stronger," said Abreu's teammate Derek Jeter, who went 2-for-5 on the night. "He's as good as it comes."

It's the biggest difference in averages between victories and defeats in the Majors among those who qualify, and don't think this fact has escaped Torre.

"He's so important for us," Torre said Friday. "He knows he's important. He's really important."

Also crucial in Saturday night's victory was Chien-Ming Wang, who gathered his composure nicely after an ugly first frame. The righty yielded three runs on four hits (two doubles) in the first inning, and things looked dismal for a while.

It didn't take him long to correct his problem, though. Wang plowed through the Rays' lineup after the first. He retired 16 of the next 17 hitters he faced, including a string of 11 consecutive outs that ended when Delmon Young singled to left with two outs in the sixth inning.

"We held Wang to get the lead," Abreu said. "And we all know that when he has the lead, he feels more comfortable and dominates the game more."

Yet things nearly fell apart for Wang after Young's hit in the sixth. He allowed another single and then hit Ty Wigginton with a pitch to load the bases and get the bullpen hopping, but froze Jonny Gomes on a 2-2 sinker to end the inning, and his outing.

He left unscathed and jogged off of the field to a round of raucous applause from the largely pro-Yankees sellout crowd of 36,048.

"That was all [Wang] right there," said Torre, when asked of his decision to leave the righty to work through the sixth. "If he would've walked Gomes, where it showed he didn't have command, we probably would've gone to [Ron] Villone."

With the 1-2 combo of Wang and Abreu, the Yankees were able to take a 5-3 lead into the eighth. Reliever Kyle Farnsworth left a full-count fastball hanging that Carlos Pena was able to lift into the right-field seats to pull Tampa Bay within one. Farnsworth then walked B.J. Upton and worked Wigginton to a 1-2 count before catcher Jorge Posada cut short Upton's steal attempt for the final out of the eighth.

"That was huge, anything in a close game like that," Torre said. "[The Rays] can run. They can do some things ... Jorge came out of it really well."

There was a bit less nailbiting in the ninth, as veteran closer Mariano Rivera accepted the ball and took 19 pitches to dispose of the Rays en route to his 425th career save. He's now in third place all alone, and just 54 shy of tying Lee Smith for second-most in history.

"I'll save the ball," Rivera said with a smile. "It will be in a good place in my house.

"It's hard to believe [it's been 10 years]. Thank God for this."

Notes: Ailing Cabrera a late scratch

Notes: Ailing Cabrera a late scratch
Outfielder battling flu symptoms; Damon starts in center
By Dawn Klemish / MLB.com

ST. PETERSBURG -- Melky Cabrera spent most of the day laying on a table inside the training room at Tropicana Field and trying to deal with a nasty set of flu-like symptoms on Saturday afternoon.

The Yankees' center fielder was a late scratch from the lineup and replaced in the field by Johnny Damon, who was slated to hit leadoff.

"I haven't really seen him, and from what I hear, I don't want to," Yankees manager Joe Torre chuckled before the game. "He may be [available] ... We'll see how he recovers from all the stuff the trainer's given him."

On Friday, he went 1-for-5 to extend his career-high hitting streak to 10 games. The switch-hitter's .275 average (75-for-273) was fifth-best on the team heading into Saturday's matchup against the Rays. He had 10 hits in his last 28 at-bats (.357), and 17 in his last 44 (.386).

Cabrera's absence shrunk New York's available bench to two -- Wil Nieves and Miguel Cairo.

"Thank goodness we're in our league," Torre quipped. "It's easier to play with three guys on the bench in the National League. But again, we don't have guys we really would pinch-hit for, so the only time [the short bench] is a concern is if somebody gets hurt."

Myers' mishap: Reliever Mike Myers continues to work with his breaking ball and has made progress, but perhaps not quite as much as he'd like. The left-hander lasted 1/3 of an inning on Friday, and punched out Tampa Bay's Akinori Iwamura, then allowed Carl Crawford's double before getting the hook. Myers threw nine pitches in the outing and was charged with an earned run.

Torre had empathy for the 38-year-old's struggle, and was optimistic things would fall back into place soon.

"He's been fiddling out there, trying to get comfortable and trying to get a good angle on his breaking ball," Torre said. "He's tinkering, and just trying to get comfortable, and I know it's frustrating for him."

Come again? Torre mentioned at the beginning of the four-game series that the Yankees would probably, in the next day or two, whittle down its 13 pitchers. He added that general manager Brian Cashman had been in contact with organizations, but had no further updates on Friday night.

"Cashman's been talking to a lot of teams," Torre said. "We're probably going to stay like this, at least for a little bit until we see if we're going to do something."

Comeback trail: Phil Hughes worked three shutout innings and fanned six along the way for Double-A Trenton on Friday night. The 21-year-old righty was "very pleased" with his second rehab start, and noted that he felt much better command of his fastball than during his first start, at Class A Tampa.

Torre was encouraged with the update he received from Cashman, who was in attendance at Trenton on Friday night, but said he didn't want to rush the youngster.

"[Cashman] could tell it was still really early," Torre said. "Not to say he wasn't good, but from the standing that we're not wondering if we can bring him up now. It's a progression thing."

Quick hits: Darrell Rasner played long toss before Saturday's contest. ... Catcher Jorge Posada will have a scheduled day off on Sunday. meaning Nieves will fill in behind the plate. ... Thursday's homer by Alex Rodriguez marked the third baseman's 150th with the Yankees, achieved in just 557 games. The only players to hit the mark in fewer games were Babe Ruth (411) and Roger Maris (508). ... A-Rod is also the first player since Mickey Mantle (1956) to lead the Majors in runs (79), homers (30) and RBIs (86) at the All-Star break.

Down on the farm: Shelley Duncan and Justin Christian combined to drive in three runs in the 10th inning of Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's 5-2 win over Louisville on Saturday. ... Double-A Trenton's 11-game win streak came to a halt in a 10-inning, 6-5 loss to New Hampshire on Friday, despite a four-RBI night from Juan Miranda. ... Class A Charleston suffered a 3-1 loss to Columbus that snapped the RiverDogs' five-game win streak.

Up next: The Yankees conclude the four-game set at Tampa Bay with a Sunday matinee. Righty Mike Mussina (4-6, 4.62 ERA) will get the ball for New York, and he'll face off against Edwin Jackson (1-9, 7.23). First pitch is set for 1:40 p.m. ET.

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.

Yanks pour on runs in rout of Twins

Yanks pour on runs in rout of Twins
Wang shuts out Minnesota in seven dominant innings
By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- If the Yankees are going to make a push toward their usual destination of postseason play, they'll have to see underperforming areas of their starting lineup come to life.

For at least one night, the most inconsistent parts of the Yankees offense all worked in harmony. Bobby Abreu, Robinson Cano and Hideki Matsui shouldered much of the load to help Chien-Ming Wang down the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday, 8-0.

"It was a good game," said Yankees manager Joe Torre. "It just gives you an indication, when a couple of guys start hitting, all of a sudden it sort of relieves some of the tension. Guys start being themselves instead of trying to force something."

The contest featured Cano snapping a dry spell of 112 at-bats without a home run, Matsui shunning his pull-happy ways to contribute two hits, and a second consecutive three-hit night from the long-troubled Abreu.

"We scored a lot of runs like we're supposed to," Abreu said. "We played a better game and our pitching responded like it's supposed to. There was a lot of action in every inning."

All of the excitement, it turned out, was provided by the Yankees, who recorded just their second shutout of the season and their first since May 6 at Seattle.

They did so behind seven scoreless innings from Wang, who admitted that even he was surprised to have thrown that many zeroes on the board against the Twins, spending much of his night trying to ignore a cracked nail on his right middle finger.

While Wang wasn't at his most efficient, he was able to navigate past damage, walking four and striking out three in a 101-pitch performance to log his team-leading eighth victory.

He most notably sidestepped a tight situation in the fourth inning, guarding a 1-0 lead in what catcher Jorge Posada would later credit as a turning point.

One night after straining his left hamstring beating out a fielder's choice, Alex Rodriguez played a key role in helping keep Minnesota off the board, a frame that saw Wang walk three batters -- one erased by a caught stealing -- and allow a hit. "That's probably the play of the game," Posada said. "If we don't turn it there, they probably get a rally going."

With Minnesota turned away, the Yankees took advantage. Cano added power in the fourth, lofting a hanging breaking ball into the right-field seats in the fourth inning for a two-run homer.

The home run was Cano's fourth of the season and ended a drought of 112 homerless at-bats for the second baseman, his first since June 1 at Boston, but more importantly, it opened things up for Wang, who would face the minimum in two of the next three innings before yielding to the bullpen.

"That's why I was so happy about the homer," Cano said. "It's not because I hit it hard, but when I hit it, it was with men on base with two outs, and it made the game 3-0."

After suffering losses in his previous two starts at San Francisco and Baltimore, Wang said he consciously decided to alter his arm slot to a higher point, returning his form to more closely resemble his action from earlier in the season.

The tweak, performed in Wang's side session following his defeat at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, worked.

"He bore down and really made pitches when he needed to," Posada said. "Ground-ball outs. Even when he's not well, his sinker is so difficult when he keeps it down."

Wang had plenty of support by the end of the night, particularly as the Yankees batted around in a five-run sixth inning that chased Minnesota's Carlos Silva.

It was a frame that began with laughs on the Yankees bench, as Roger Clemens and bench coach Don Mattingly were among the most vocal ribbing the sight of Posada -- slow-footed catcher that he is -- legging it to third base as Hunter misplayed a single, the ball skipping under his glove for a two-base error.

"I almost missed second base," Posada confessed. "It's a tough one to get to third base."

The dash home was simpler, scoring on a Silva wild pitch, and opened an inning that made the Yankees feel a whole lot better about their production.

Matsui doubled and scored on an Abreu single, and after Cano was hit by a pitch, Melky Cabrera stroked a run-scoring single. Derek Jeter drove in another run, his second RBI of the night and part of a three-hit game, to complete the barrage.

"The more hitters we have who start hitting the ball hard, the better it is for the team," Matsui said. "The results are going to be there."

Leaving the stadium, the Yankees added one more storyline to the mix -- the Major League debut of 26-year-old right-hander Edwar Ramirez, who recorded three swinging strikeouts on nasty changeups.

Ramirez's feel-good story -- twice released by the Angels organization, out of baseball for all of 2004, and plucked from the roster of an independent league club in Edinburg, Tex., last year -- was just one more thing for the Yankees to trumpet on a night when everything else seemed to go right.

"Sometimes things are contagious," Jeter said. "It seems like a couple guys start swinging the bats and everyone picks it up. You hope it can last for at least the rest of this homestand."

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."