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Chien-Ming's Monster Start
By Dan McCourt, NYYFans.com
August 30, 2007
An eerie feeling of deja vu hung over Yankee Stadium Thursday afternoon,
as a Yankee starter carried a no-hitter against the Red Sox into the
sixth inning for the second consecutive day. Chien-Ming Wang's no-no
attempt would last two outs longer, and his shutout finished intact, as
the Yanks beat Boston 5-0 to sweep the AL East leaders in three
straight.
Adding to the coincidental familiarity was that Chien-Ming Wang
struggled with his control much as Roger Clemens had Wednesday night,
walking four in seven innings while Clemens donated five free passes
through six gutsy, gritty frames. And the two contests shared a subplot
as well, as Jason Giambi, shoehorned into first base to get his bat into
the lineup, sparked both wins with some stellar defense.
The mound opponents in the back-to-back contests represented a sharp
contrast though, both in the arsenal of pitches they brought to the
game, and in the effectiveness of their outings. Josh Beckett
intimidated Wednesday with 96-mph heat and a killer curve. On the other
hand, Thursday's Boston starter Curt Schilling showed how much he has
lost off his fastball-centered approach. He started Johnny Damon in the
bottom of the first with a fastball clocked at 86 mph, and he rarely hit
the gun at a higher speed.
But as much as I would love to tell you that the silence-averse Boston
starter was pounded with his fading stuff, I can't. Curt mixed his
"heat" with mid-eighties cutters and splits and a slow-breaking curve to
keep the home-standing Yanks off balance through seven, during which
time he allowed two Robbie Cano opposite field home runs, and little
else. In fact, he held all but three Yankees hitters (Cano, the two
homers and a line out; Derek Jeter, four-for four on the day; and Melky
Cabrera, one-for-two with a walk) to an 0-for-18 day.
Schilling struck out two after Jeter's first-inning bingle, and Coco
Crisp ran down a Hideki Matsui liner to deep left center in the second.
Cano drilled Curt's first third-inning pitch the same way for a home
run, but the Yanks failed to add to the score because Crisp made a nice
catch running down Johnny Damon's liner to short left center in between
Cabrera and Jeter one-base hits. After a one-two-three fourth, there was
that man again, and Cano laced his second homer to left center leading
off the fifth for a 2-0 lead. Cabrera walked and was doubled off on a
hit-and-run when Damon lined the opposite way into Mike Lowell's glove
at third. Jeter singled yet again, but Eric Hinske caught up with Bobby
Abreu's long drive to left at the wall to close the home team's
hardest-hitting frame. Schilling retired the next six to end his day
down 2-0 after seven.
Another difference between the Clemens and Wang starts was pitch count.
Wang used his hard-sinking fastball to get 10 quick ground ball outs so
he could survive one inning longer than the Rocket, and he started the
top of the seventh having tossed 85 pitches. The Taiwanese righty may
have had his best low-eighties change of pace today, which he used to
set up David Ortiz. And once he had the big lefty DH leaning over and
looking he twice dropped in an 86-mph slider for two of his five strike
outs.
Umpiring played a huge part in the Thursday afternoon tilt, particularly
late in the game. The Yanks were upset at a noncall from third base ump
Mark Carlson on what appeared to be a swinging strike out by Ortiz in
the sixth, though it cost Wang but a few throws, as the Red Sox DH
finally fanned three pitches later. Wang coaxed a leadoff Kevin Youkilis
bouncer to short in the seventh, and Giambi came off the bag to take a
throw that tailed to his left. He swiped a tag at the Boston first
baseman that appeared to have him despite a mini-slide, but Ted Barrett
ruled him safe, correctly it turned out.
With an error on Jeter's throw (though Giambi should have managed the
tag), the no-hitter was intact, but Mike Lowell was the tying run at the
plate, and after taking a strike he ended the no-hitter with a clean
single to right. Then things got wild as J.D. Drew smacked a grounder to
A-Rod, who chose to go for the tag on the approaching Youkilis rather
than a 5-4-3. The Boston first sacker could have retreated to thwart
Alex's design, but he tried to avoid the tag, running out of the
baseline and onto the infield grass to do so, as Alex broke his charge
and threw to first to nip Drew.
Carlson, who had a clear view, made no call, and Torre appealed to the
other umpires to confer on the clear infraction. After a huddle second
base ump Phil Cuzzi punched Youkilis out, and eventually did the same to
Terry Francona, who furiously charged the field and would not leave
until he got his money's worth. With order restored, Wang struck out
Jason Varitek to close the seventh, and his work for the day.
Chien-Ming had the five K's (four swinging), four walks, and the one
single allowed through seven. His 63/38 strikes/balls ratio was superb
for a guy who struggled with his control, though the just 11 first-pitch
strikes to 25 batters was telling. He started the season as a master of
the grounder-inducing hard sinking fastball, and has been working in a
slider and change all year to varying results. And despite the lapses in
control, he may have employed the best mix of his weapons to date in
this shutout. He could hardly have picked a better time.
But there are still a few quick chapters left to the book of this game.
Joba Chamberlain pitched the eighth, retiring three of four Sox hitters
around a two-out Dustin Pedroia double into the right field corner.
Chamberlain was effective, but not as dominant as we have already become
accustomed to seeing him. Boston countered with lefty Hideki Okajima,
who dominated Yankee hitters the first few times they saw him earlier
this year, replacing Schilling to start the eighth. Jeter stroked a
one-out single, and the recently struggling Bobby Abreu worked a full
count, then delivered Jeter with a double to the wall in right center.
It was the Yankee right fielder's 400th career double. A-Rod was given a
free pass, and the Yanks pulled off a double steal with Matsui up.
Varitek's throw toward third sailed into foul territory in short left,
and both runners came around to score, forging the 5-0 final score.
With the margin wider, Torre left Mariano Rivera in the pen, making the
curious decision to stick with Joba in the ninth, and he retired Ortiz
on a fly to left. Chamberlain missed on a pitch to Youkilis, coaxed a
foul, then threw a high hard one over his head. The next pitch was to
the same spot, well over Youkilis's head, but disconcerting nonetheless,
I'm sure. It's a baseball cliche that a well-umpired game is one where
there is no reason to notice them, but that Angel Hernandez then ejected
Joba without even a warning is the fifth mention of the officiating crew
in the last few paragraphs.
Edwar Ramirez finished the walk, struck out Lowell and popped Drew up
foul to Andy Phillips at first on a nice play to end the game. The
bizarre ending raises several questions but no answers. Why Joba in the
ninth? Getting the kid a save would be nice, but that's not why he is
here. Was there any intention behind the strangely similar throws over
the Boston first baseman's head? Why did Hernandez not warn him first
before ejecting him from the game? Will a suspension follow?
I'll shrug off those questions with a ""no clue" aside, but not the
fabulous work of the Yankee starters in this three-game sweep. Pitching
is supposed to be what separates the Sox from the Yanks, at least
statistically speaking, but Andy Pettitte closed a dominant August with
a 6-0 mark, the veteran Clemens outdueled Boston's best, and Chien-Ming
Wang blanked the Red Sox through seven with a slim 2-0 lead. The young
Taiwanese righty has excited baseball fans all around the world, and the
Stadium stands were dotted with fan banners in his native language.
There was a huge crowd in Tier section 26 who saluted the young righty
with a huge red banner and who gave out and waved no. 40 Wang flags all
afternoon.
August 30, 2007 is the 210th anniversary of the birth of Mary
Wollstonecraft Shelley, wife of famous English Romantic poet Percy
Bysshe Shelley, but a gothic novelist in her own right as well. She has
given the modern world one of the classic monsters of all time in her
tome Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus.
Chien-Ming Wang gave the Yankees a monster start Thursday, just when
they needed it most.
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