The Magic Wang

It stands to reason that the longer a starting pitcher stays in the game, the better his chances are of figuring in the decision. Chien-Ming Wang improved to 13-5 by going 7 innings plus 1 batter into the 8th and the Yankees beat the Royals at The Stadium, 7-1. Wang has figured in all but 2 of the games he's started. After a rough outing against the Orioles on Sunday, he was back in complete control of the young Royals lineup.

It only took 7 batters for Wang to have a lead as Robinson Cano smacked his 11th home run of the season off of Odalis Perez (6-10). But 3 straight, 2-out singles, the last by Ross Gload, allowed the Royals to tie the game up in the 3rd. That would be the last time the Royals were in a position to win. Wang retired Billy Butler on a ground out, what else, to end the inning.

Shelley Duncan started the 4th with his first of 2 singles on the night. Cano singled and Andy Phillips moved both runners up a base with a successful sacrifice bunt. Jose Molina, playing in place of the injured Jorge Posada, flied to deep left-center to score Duncan and put the Yankees ahead for good, 2-1. Johnny Damon's gapper to right-center scored Cano for a 3-1 advantage.

The Yankees put the game away in the 6th with the help of a whacky bounce. Perez walked Cano to end his evening and Buddy Bell brought on Ryan Z. Braun. Phillips immediately greeted him with a sharp single to left to set up another bunting situation. But Molina bunted it right back to Braun, who easily threw out Cano at 3rd. Braun's good fortune quickly turned thought, when he walked Damon to load the bases. Melky Cabrera lined Braun's 1st pitch off of the Royal hurler's foot and the mound. The ball ricocheted sideways and flew up into the stands on the 1st base, for possibly, the shortest 2-run ground-rule double in the history of the game.

A Derek Jeter walk loaded the bases and set the stage for a dramatic Alex Rodriguez at-bat. Still looking for his 500th home run. But A-Rod got under Braun's pitch, sending a high fly to right that turned into a sacrifice fly and a 6-1 Yankees lead.

As usual, Wang pitched like a man with confidence. He threw 98 pitches, 68 for strikes, and recorded 12 ground ball outs. He was lifted after allowing Mark Grudzielenak's lead-off double in the 8th. Mike Myers and Luis Vizcaino finished up the inning, before Mariano Rivera pitched a 1-2-3 9th in a non-save situation.

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Alex Rodriguez's final at-bat in the 8th inning gave the crowd a quick thrill as he drove the ball to right-center, but it sunk for a fly out.

Robinson Cano had just 33 RBI at the end of June, but a huge July and a quick start to August has pushed his season total to 60. His 2 hits raised his average to .305.

Melky Cabrera's 3 hits raised his average to .292. The Yankees front office have to seriously be thinking about making Melky the long term centerfielder.

Johnny Damon is having another mini-revival, which must continue if he doesn't want to lose at-bats when Jason Giambi returns. Damon is 9-17 over the last 4 games with 4 RBI, and, more importantly, 8 runs scored.

Chien-Ming Wang's victory was the 40th of his short career. He now has a .714 lifetime winning percentage.


photos courtesy of AP