Bombers ride Chien express
Torrid streak keeps up heat

BY ANTHONY McCARRON
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Chien-Ming Wang walked past Joe Torre on the Yankee bench last night,
moving toward the clubhouse moments after the eighth inning ended.
Torre looked at him and kidded, "What, are you quitting?"

Wang, who had already pitched eight scoreless innings, pointed to Ron Guidry.
The pitching coach had told Wang that eight is enough, at least for one
night, especially because he had thrown 104 pitches in 97-degree heat.
Wang was done, but even though he didn't get his second straight shutout,
he recorded his second consecutive sterling outing with the Yankees'
7-2 victory over the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.

Wang (13-4) allowed only four hits to one of the best hitting clubs in
baseball - the Jays lead the majors in average and slugging percentage - won
his fifth straight start and ran his string of consecutive scoreless innings
to 18. He rebounded from a wild second inning in which he walked three
batters, more than he had in all but four of his starts this season.

"He's been pitching as well as anybody in baseball," Derek Jeter said.
"When you talk about the top pitchers in the league, he's got to be right
up there."

He wasn't even affected by the heat. "It was not that bad," Wang said.
 "Taiwan (his home) is the same."

Jeter and Jorge Posada homered and Alex Rodriguez started a six-run sixth
inning by atoning for a too-daring attempt for an extra base with a snazzy
slide that got him to second when each of the 54,414 in the park thought
he'd be tagged out. The Yanks sent 11 to the plate in the inning and A-Rod
even added a two-run single later as the 10th hitter.

The victory was the Yankees' third straight and seventh in their last
eight games and it kept them in first place in the AL East, percentage
points ahead of Boston. If you think it's too early to keep mentioning
who's in first place, consider this scene: Moments after their own win
was over, numerous Yankees gathered in the team's TV lounge to watch
the Red Sox and emerged shaking their heads in wonder at another Boston
comeback win over Cleveland.

But the Yankees are rolling now, especially with the new additions to
their lineup. Both Bobby Abreu and Craig Wilson got their first hits as
Yankees last night and the Bombers clinched a series win over the Jays
even before today's matinee, meaning the Yanks are 10-1-1 in their last
12 series. They also reached a season-high 22 games over .500, something
they didn't do until Sept. 16 last season.

"The ballclub has a good feel right now," Torre said. "Everybody,
in spite of the weather, is feeling good."

Even Rodriguez, who would have been out at second by about 20 feet trying
to stretch his hit in the sixth if he hadn't switched hands with his "swim"
stroke and sneaked his right hand onto the bag before the tag. Posada
followed with his 14th homer and a big inning ensued.

Wang, who along with Mike Mussina, Josh Beckett and Roy Halladay is second
to Detroit's Justin Verlander in victories in the AL, retired the final
eight batters he faced and got 16 ground-ball outs. He has allowed only
seven runs in his last 38-1/3 innings, an ERA of 1.64.

Ron Villone pitched the final inning, allowing a two-run homer to
Troy Glaus.

Torre admitted he was tempted to leave Wang in the game. Asked if Wang's
pitch count was too high, Torre said: "It wasn't high, but it could've
gotten high. It (taking him out) was probably the smartest thing to do."

The starter was not complaining.

"This," Wang said, "has been a lot of fun."

Originally published on August 3, 2006


http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/story/440356p-370989c.html
※ 編輯: yyhong68        來自: 140.109.23.211       (08/03 16:41)