Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Wang Gets Grounded

Chien-Ming Wang was dazed and confused after his last bad start, one that stretched his winless streak out to six games. But last night the Wanger was back on track, getting four double plays in the Yankees 3-1 win over the Oakland Athletics.

Wang won for the first time since May 2 and pitched past the 7th inning for the first time since May 18. He scattered 7 hits, walked 2 and struck out 2 before being pulled with one out in the 8th inning. More importantly, he had his sinker working again and it got him out of a few jams.

Remarkably, the A's had the lead off man in the first seven innings, but could only push a run across in the 4th when Jack Cust singled, moved to 2nd on a ground out, and scored on Mark Ellis' double.

The Yankees had built a quick 2-0 lead in the 1st inning against A's starter Dana Eveland. Derek Jeter drew a 1-out walk and Bobby Abreu followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi delivered, with back-to-back RBI singles to center field to score both runners. Jorge Posada drew a walk to loaded the bases, but Eveland was able to retire Wilson Betemit to escape further trouble.

Wang ran into trouble in the 7th when the A's loaded the bases with one out on singles by Ellis and Carlos Gonzalez, and a walk by Travis Buck. But Wang's sinker sunk the A's. Kurt Suzuki grounded to Alex Rodriguez who began a 5-4-3 inning ending double play.

Eveland settled down after that and the Yankees managed just 4 hits the rest of the game. They left runners in scoring position in the 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 8th innings. Finally Melky Cabrera added a big insurance run when he hit a solo home run, his 7th, off of Keith Foulke in the 9th.

Jose Veras escaped a 2-out, 2-on jam in the 8th, retiring Ellis on a ground out, and Mariano Rivera came on in the 9th to record his 17th save. Gonzalez gave the A's life with a 2-out single, but Rivera retired Suzuki on a routine fly to Cabrera to seal the win.

News and Notes

Johnny Damon was 1-4 and is now hitting an AL 3rd best .325.

Jason Giambi, much to the amusement of his family (including brother Jeremy) tagged up from 1st base and advanced to 2nd on a deep fly out.

Melky Cabrera's home run was his first since May 4.

June 10, 2008

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
NY Yankees
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
3 7 0
Oakland
0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
1 8 0


NY YankeesABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Damon, LF4010110.325
Jeter, SS4100121.271
Abreu, RF2020200.294
Rodriguez, 3B4121002.321
Giambi, DH2011112.257
Posada, C3000115.299
Betemit, 1B4000025.222
Cano, 2B4000001.227
Cabrera, CF4111000.269
Totals313736716

BATTING
HR: Cabrera (7, 9th inning off Foulke, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Damon; Abreu 2; Rodriguez 2; Giambi; Cabrera 4.
RBI: Rodriguez (32), Giambi (35), Cabrera (28).
2-out RBI: Giambi.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Betemit 2; Posada; Rodriguez; Cano.
GIDP: Jeter.
Team LOB: 8.

BASERUNNING
CS: Damon (4, 2nd base by Gaudin/Suzuki).

FIELDING
DP: 4 (Jeter-Cano-Betemit, Rodriguez-Cano-Betemit 2, Cano-Jeter-Betemit).

NY YankeesIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Wang (W, 7-2)7.17112204.30
Veras (H, 3)0.20002003.71
Rivera (S, 17)1.01000100.90

OaklandABRHRBIBBSOLOBAVG
Hannahan, DH3000011.236
Crosby, SS4010002.264
Cust, LF3110102.249
1-Davis, PR-CF0000000.191
Chavez, 3B3000102.286
Ellis, 2B4031002.244
Barton, 1B4000023.227
Buck, RF-LF3000102.165
Gonzalez, C, CF-RF3020101.263
Suzuki, C4010005.251
Totals311814320


1-Ran for Cust in the 8th.

BATTING
2B: Ellis 2 (12, Wang, Wang).
TB: Crosby; Cust; Ellis 5; Gonzalez, C 2; Suzuki.
RBI: Ellis (23).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Gonzalez, C; Buck; Ellis; Suzuki.
GIDP: Crosby; Suzuki 2; Cust.
Team LOB: 8.

BASERUNNING
SB: Davis (11, 2nd base off Veras/Posada).

FIELDING
Outfield assists: Gonzalez, C (Abreu at 3rd base).
DP: (Chavez-Ellis-Barton).

OaklandIPHRERBBSOHRERA
Eveland (L, 4-5)6.04226303.76
Gaudin 1.12000103.29
Embree 0.20000204.00
Foulke 1.01110113.10

Balk: Eveland.
HBP: Hannahan (by Wang), Giambi (by Embree).
Pitches-strikes: Wang 83-46, Veras 20-9, Rivera 20-13,
Eveland 100-51, Gaudin 22-13, Embree 12-9, Foulke 20-11.
Ground outs-fly outs: Wang 15-5, Veras 2-0, Rivera 0-2,
Eveland 7-7, Gaudin 1-1, Embree 0-0, Foulke 1-1.
Batters faced: Wang 28, Veras 4, Rivera 4, Eveland 26,
Gaudin 5, Embree 3, Foulke 4.
Inherited runners-scored: Embree 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Jerry Crawford. 1B: Brian O'Nora. 2B: Paul Nauert.
3B: D.J. Reyburn.
Weather: 74 degrees, clear.
Wind: 12 mph, L to R.
T: 2:58.
Att: 26,402.

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