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."