Crushing Victory Crushing Loss

The Yankees pounded the Houston Astros 13-0 at Minute Maid Park yesterday afternoon, to complete a 3-game sweep and take 5 of 6 on the road trip, but the win was the least talked about item after the game. Instead it was the possible extent of the right foot injury Chien-Ming Wang suffered while scoring in the 6th inning on Derek Jeter's single to right field.

Joe Girardi would not speculate as to the severity of the injury, but felt it possibly occurred when Wang step on the 3rd base bag as he headed home. As soon he crossed home plate the Wanger had to grab on to Robinson Cano for support and was helped off the field. His foot swelled to the point that he couldn't even put his shoe on after the game. He'll go for tests back in New York today, but a trip to the DL is a foregone conclusion.

The injury took away from a great game by the Yankees, who won their fourth straight to move 4 games above .500 for the first time all season. The Yankees put together a 2-out rally against Astros starter Roy Oswalt in the 3rd inning and never looked back. Oswalt retired Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter to start the inning, but Hideki Matsui doubled and Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi drew back to back walks to load the bases. Oswalt missed inside on a 3-2 pitch to Jorge Posada to force in a run, and then the Yankees got a big break when Robinson Cano's broken bat bloop dropped just into fair territory and out of the reach of 3rd baseman Geoff Blum for a 2-run single.

Wang had a relatively easy 5 innings, scattering 6 hits while not issuing any walks. He also struck out 3 and induced 2 double play grounders. The Yankees broke open the game in the 6th and lost their pitcher in the process.

Posada and Cano started the inning with singles, but Oswalt came back to retire Melky Cabrera on a fly out and Wang on a force out that forced him to run the bases. Damon picked up one of his three hits to load the bases for Jeter. The captain singled through the right side and Wang chased Cano home before grinding to a halt.

Astros skipper Cecil Cooper brought in left-hander Wesley Wright to face Matsui, but the move back fired when Matsui delivered an RBI single to center for a 6-0 lead. Then the Yankees really poured it on. A-Rod belted his 14th home run of the season, a 3-run shot to the deepest part of left-center and two batters later Posada followed suit with a moon shot to the same general area for a 11-0 lead.

The Yankees completed the shutout with an inning each thrown by Ross Ohlendorf, Edwar Ramirez, LaTroy Hawkins, and Dan Giese.

News and Notes

More ladder climbing for A-Rod. The home run was the 530th of his career and his 185th as a member of the Yankees, tying him for 16th on the team list with Paul O'Neill. The 3 RBI moved him passed Joe Dimaggio and tied him with Willie Stargell for 40th on the all-time baseball list with 1,540.

Derek Jeter's 2 hits added to his interleague leading total, which is now 262.

Johnny Damon had 3 hits for the second straight game and is 45-99 (.455) since he was hitting .250 on May 18.

Cecil Cooper lashed into his team after the game, saying the finale of the series was a total embarrassment. The Astros started off the season strong, but have lost 14 of their last 17 games to fall 4 games under .500.


June 15, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	0	3	0	0	8	0	2	0		13	15	0
Houston	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	7	2

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, CF	6	1	3	0	0	0	0	.328
Jeter, SS	4	1	2	2	0	0	0	.273
a-Gonzalez, PH-SS	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.191
Matsui, LF	5	2	2	1	1	0	1	.325
Rodriguez, 3B	4	3	2	3	1	0	1	.326
Hawkins, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
c-Molina, PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.217
Giese, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Giambi, 1B	2	2	1	0	1	1	0	.262
Ohlendorf, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Ramirez, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
b-Moeller, PH-C	2	1	1	0	0	0	2	.262
Posada, C-1B	2	1	2	3	3	0	0	.318
Cano, 2B	4	1	2	3	1	1	2	.225
Cabrera, RF	5	0	0	1	0	2	8	.258
Wang, P	3	1	0	0	0	2	4	.000
Betemit, 1B-3B	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.224
Totals	42	13	15	13	7	6	22
a-Grounded into a forceout for Jeter in the 7th. b-Doubled for Ramirez in the 8th. c-Reached on error for Hawkins in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Matsui (13, Oswalt), Moeller (5, Villarreal). HR: Rodriguez (12, 6th inning off Wright, 2 on, 2 out), Posada (3, 6th inning off Wright, 1 on, 2 out). TB: Damon 3; Jeter 2; Matsui 3; Rodriguez 5; Giambi; Moeller 2; Posada 5; Cano 2. RBI: Posada 3 (17), Cano 3 (24), Jeter 2 (30), Matsui (34), Rodriguez 3 (37), Cabrera (31). 2-out RBI: Posada 3; Cano 2; Jeter 2; Matsui; Rodriguez 3. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Wang; Cabrera; Betemit; Moeller. GIDP: Gonzalez. Team LOB: 10.

BASERUNNING
CS: Damon (5, 2nd base by Oswalt/Ausmus).

FIELDING
DP: 2 (Jeter-Cano-Giambi, Rodriguez-Cano-Giambi).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Wang (W, 8-2)	5.0	6	0	0	0	3	0	4.07
Ohlendorf	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	5.65
Ramirez	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	2.25
Hawkins	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0	5.65
Giese	1.0	1	0	0	0	1	0	1.23

Houston	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Pence, RF	4	0	1	0	0	2	4	.278
Erstad, 1B	2	0	1	0	2	0	1	.316
Tejada, SS	4	0	1	0	0	1	4	.300
Byrdak, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
Lee, LF	3	0	0	0	0	2	2	.273
Villarreal, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
a-Quintero, PH-C	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.250
Blum, 3B-SS	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	.233
Loretta, 2B	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.270
Bourn, CF	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	.239
Ausmus, C-3B	3	0	0	0	1	0	2	.229
Oswalt, P	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	.194
Wright, P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Abercrombie, LF	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.333
Totals	32	0	7	0	3	7	17
a-Struck out for Villarreal in the 8th.
BATTING TB: Pence; Erstad; Tejada; Bourn 2; Oswalt 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Tejada; Pence. GIDP: Erstad; Ausmus. Team LOB: 9. FIELDING E: Tejada (6, missed catch), Ausmus (2, fielding). DP: (Loretta-Erstad).

Houston IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Oswalt (L, 5-7) 5.2 8 7 3 4 6 0 5.04 Wright 0.1 3 4 4 0 0 2 5.11 Villarreal 2.0 3 2 2 2 0 0 4.86 Byrdak 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1.31

HBP: Abercrombie (by Ramirez), Giambi (by Wright). Pitches-strikes: Wang 71-51, Ohlendorf 12-7, Ramirez 17-9, Hawkins 17-10, Giese 14-10, Oswalt 118-78, Wright 11-7, Villarreal 41-21, Byrdak 23-14. Ground outs-fly outs: Wang 7-5, Ohlendorf 0-2, Ramirez 2-0, Hawkins 0-2, Giese 0-2, Oswalt 6-4, Wright 1-0, Villarreal 2-4, Byrdak 2-1. Batters faced: Wang 19, Ohlendorf 4, Ramirez 5, Hawkins 4, Giese 4, Oswalt 29, Wright 5, Villarreal 11, Byrdak 5. Inherited runners-scored: Wright 2-2. Umpires: HP: Marty Foster. 1B: Derryl Cousins. 2B: Angel Hernandez. 3B: Eric Cooper. Weather: 74 degrees, roof closed. Wind: 0 mph, None. T: 3:12. Att: 43,165.