[外電] Chien Up!

[xiemark (aisinjuro)]

 CHIEN UP!

By GEORGE KING

June 7, 2007 -- CHICAGO - Nine innings of pitching brilliance by the
quiet man turned up the volume in the Yankees' clubhouse.

On the left side of lockers, Robinson Cano and Mariano Rivera chirped
loudly at each other. Further down the room, loud voices floated out of
the shower with the steam. For the first time in a while, you didn't
need a stethoscope to take the Yankees' pulse.

Maybe they have finally cleared the thick yellow phlegm from their
throats. Perhaps they are ready to be the muscular team so many thought
they would be in March. Yet, what pumped up Yankees last night was the
man in the middle of U.S. Cellular Field: Chien-Ming Wang.

"He was unbelievable," Johnny Damon said of ultra-quiet Wang, who posted
a complete-game 5-1 victory over the anemic-hitting White Sox - a
victory that moved the Yanks 101/2 games behind the first-place Red Sox
in the AL East after Boston's 3-2 loss in Oakland (the Sox' fourth
straight defeat).

"We needed that as a unit," Damon added. "They couldn't get anything
going."

Wang - featuring a sinker that Joe Torre said "exploded" and a slider
with teeth - allowed five hits, walked one and fanned four. He is 5-4
and has won four of his last five decisions to re-establish himself as
the staff ace.

"He is pretty special," Torre said of the right-hander who required 104
pitches to log the Yankees' first complete-game victory since he went
nine and beat the Devil Rays on July 28. "If he doesn't throw that wild
pitch, they may not score."

Wang's shot at a shutout vanished in the third, when Rob Mackowiak
singled, went to second on a ground out and third when Wang bounced a
slider. He scored on Juan Uribe's ground out to cut the Yankees' lead to
4-1.

"I had better control and the slider was better," Wang said of his
masterpiece, which included 15 of the 27 outs coming on the ground.

Melky Cabrera continued to thrive as the every-day center fielder. He
tripled, singled and threw out Henry Owens at the plate by a wide margin
with a perfect, one-hop strike in the sixth.

Torre and Alex Rodriguez, who drove in two runs in the four-run third,
mentioned it was Wang's best outing. However, on May 5 Wang took a
perfect game into the eighth against the Mariners before Ben Broussard
homered with one out. Wang finished the eighth and didn't come out for
the ninth. Last night he finished what he started.

Asked if getting the complete game was important to him, Wang said, "The
team winning is important."

Having won five of seven and inching closer to .500 at 26-31, the
Yankees have a chance to complete the 10-game, three-city trip with a
winning record tonight when Mike Mussina faces ex-Yankee Jose Contreras.
A victory sends them home to face the Pirates with a 6-4 ledger on the
trip.

"We are starting to stack blocks, and that's what we need to do," Torre
said. "We need to climb to .500 and see how good we are."

Who knows what lies ahead? Tyler Clippard gave them enough to win
Tuesday and Wang was brilliant last night. Mussina goes tonight and Andy
Pettitte on Friday. Then Roger Clemens re-enters the Yankees' universe
Saturday.

"We are feeling good," said Damon, who doubled twice and scored a run.
"Everybody needs to pitch in. It's fun when things start going your way.
This is a very important moment for us. There is a lot of baseball to
go."

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◆ From: 61.57.134.215
推 falconer:美國媒體也會有這樣殺的標題啊!
推 jaminson:isnt it Jerry Owens?
推 skylion:Chin UP!~振作~^^
推 eric93:好抒情的文章...跟一般體育報導好像不同。
推 Nixi:原來記者也認為王建民是洋基的ACE喔!! 這場穩固地位= =
→ Nixi:前面寫的像小說....= =
推 owenkuo:本來Wang現階段就是洋基的ACE...偏偏一堆人認為還不是....
→ owenkuo:當然我們可以期待wang好上加好....但是是要多好?!
→ owenkuo:期待實力成長是Endless的....但是現在論對NYY的貢獻，
→ owenkuo:Wang不是ACE不然還會是誰???痛痛人嗎:p
推 cuapple:好喜歡這個標題...CHIN UP
推 angertin:ACE not yet , 但是很好的二三號先發
推 petition:不錯文章 ~ 我來翻譯一下