IT'S A LONG DAY FOR WANG
By MIKE PUMA
May 11, 2007 -- Chien-Ming Wang's flirtation with perfection this time
lasted all of six pitches. Rangers Leadoff hitter Kenny Lofton walked,
and Wang's imperfect afternoon was underway.
It ended with the Rangers sticking the right-hander for seven runs on
11 hits over 6 1/3 innings, contributing to a 14-2 demolition of the Yankees
yesterday at the Stadium.
Saturday, Wang pitched 71/3 perfect innings against the Mariners before
Ben Broussard homered to end the suspense. Wang settled for an 8-1 victory
that day.
"I know you have to live up to yourself," Joe Torre said. "But you
certainly shouldn't expect another [near] perfect game."
The Yankees would have been happy with seven strong innings from Wang.
But Lofton scored on Sammy Sosa's RBI single in the first, and an ugly
fifth inning, accentuated by a defensive flub, had Wang (1-3) headed
toward defeat.
"This game I had very bad control," Wang said, noting he didn't have
much bite on his sinker. "My pitches were more flat."
A botched rundown in the fifth exacerbated matters.
With one out and Gerald Laird standing at third base - he tripled
leading off the inning - Brad Wilkerson hit a chopper that Alex Rodriguez
fielded. Laird broke for the plate and should have been easy prey,
but it somehow got complicated.
Rodriguez threw home to Jorge Posada, who chased Laird back toward
third base. Then Posada threw to Rodriguez, who began chasing Laird
toward home. But instead of tossing to Wang, who was in position
at the plate to make a play, Rodriguez kept the ball and made a
lunging tag attempt on Laird as he slid home. The runner was ruled
safe. Torre said Rodriguez should have thrown to Wang.
That was the start of a three-run inning. Wilkerson, who took second
on the play, scored on Mark Teixeira's RBI single. Teixeira took
second on a throw home and scored on Sosa's RBI single. The Rangers
had a 4-1 lead and control of the game.
In the seventh, Laird and Lofton reached on consecutive singles against
Wang, the start of a three-run inning. Teixeira's RBI double against
Wang and Hank Blalock's RBI double against Luis Vizcaino were the big hits.
"[Wang] was OK, not as good as he can be," Torre said. "We don't
mess up that fifth inning and we're still locked in a close ballgame."
mpuma@nypost.com
http://tinyurl.com/2lwxu7
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