工程師媽媽的生活雜記

Tonight I was watching this game and felt very sorry for Chien-Ming Wang. really hope he can find himself back soon. This article on NY TIMES SPORTS headline tonight is not going to make you happy. I don't like sports critics anyway.


Cited from NY TIMES SPORTS
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/11/sports/baseball/11yankees.html?emc=eta1
by Tyler Kepner
Wang Again Appears Lost as Red Sox Surge Ahead in the Division

BOSTON — They have already used the disabled list, the minor leagues and the bullpen in their search for the old Chien-Ming Wang. Nothing has helped. The Yankees have not found their former ace, who took a significant step backward in another loss to the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday.
Wang lasted just two and two-thirds innings in a 6-5 loss at Fenway Park, the Yankees’ seventh defeat in seven games against their rivals this season. Wang faced 17 hitters, retiring eight and allowing nine to reach base. He looked nothing like the pitcher who fired a two-hit complete game here in April 2008.

The Red Sox led by 4-1 when Wang left after 69 pitches, lowering — yes, lowering — his earned run average to 14.34. Mark Teixeira helped the Yankees edge closer with four hits, but they struggled with runners in scoring position, leaving the tying run at second against Hideki Okajima in the eighth and Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth.

Manager Joe Girardi said before the game that he wanted six strong innings from Wang, who would be limited to about 90 pitches. The Red Sox seemed determined to drive up his pitch count, taking the first pitch 11 times in their first 12 plate appearances.

Seven times, that pitch was a ball. Three times in the first inning, Wang issued a walk. He escaped with minimal damage — a run-scoring single through the left side by Jason Bay — but needed 29 pitches to do it.

Any hopes that Wang could last six innings disappeared in the second, when he needed another 29 pitches to get three outs. He looked impressive at the end, using his slider for strikeouts of Kevin Youkilis and Bay. But until then, it was another struggle.

It started with lesser hitters. Nick Green fell behind, 0-2, but recovered for a leadoff single. The backup catcher George Kottaras worked a full count, then slammed a double to deep right center, scoring Green.

Dustin Pedroia followed with a slicing fly down the right-field line. Nick Swisher gave chase, and the ball seemed high enough for him to have a chance at it. But it bounced over the wall for a double.

A run scored, putting Boston ahead by 3-1, and Mike Lowell bashed Wang’s first pitch of the third over the Green Monster. David Ortiz flied out to deep center, earning a standing ovation from the Fenway fans, and Wang was nearing the end.

After a Mark Kotsay single and a strikeout of Green, Girardi went to the mound to remove Wang. Before Wang could leave the mound, Girardi intercepted him, putting his hand on his side and talking to him. Phil Hughes trotted in from the bullpen, and Wang shuffled off to the dugout and an uncertain future.

His next start is scheduled for Tuesday at home against the Washington Nationals. Considering the Nationals’ futility, the Yankees might want to keep him in the rotation at least through that game. But Wang’s repeated failures put the Yankees in a tough spot.

They have to weigh Wang’s successful recent history — a 46-15 record from 2006 through 2008 — against the damage he has been doing this year on the days he starts.

The Yankees cannot send Wang back to the minors without exposing him to waivers. They could keep Wang in their bullpen as a long man, but that would not help him build up innings and consistency in his sinker, his signature pitch.

The presence of Hughes does not help Wang’s case. Hughes overpowered Tampa Bay in relief on Monday, and besides a two-batter stretch in the fourth inning on Wednesday — a triple by J. D. Drew and a homer by Youkilis — he was sharp again.

Hughes threw 63 pitches, allowing only those two hits and runs. He walked two and struck out five in three and two-thirds innings, and the Red Sox put no runners in scoring position against him after the homer.

Tim Wakefield (8-3) protected Boston’s early lead, allowing three runs in six innings, but Ramon Ramirez made things close in the seventh. Johnny Damon greeted him with a homer, his 13th this season. Teixeira followed with another blast to right, his 19th of the season and fourth hit of the game.

Like that, it was a one-run game, and after Jorge Posada walked with two out, Red Sox Manager Terry Francona called for Okajima. He struck out Hideki Matsui on a slider, and after a walk and a sacrifice bunt in the eighth, Okajima fanned Derek Jeter and Damon to strand the tying run in scoring position.

That was nothing new for the Yankees, who had just two hits in 15 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

INSIDE PITCH
The Yankees will make up last Friday’s rainout against the Tampa Bay Rays at 7:05 p.m. on Sept. 7 as part of a day-night, split-admission doubleheader. ... The Yankees will face Brad Penny Thursday for the first time since he beat them twice in the 2003 World Series for the Florida Marlins. ... Sergio Mitre, the former Cubs and Marlins right-hander who signed with the Yankees last winter, made his debut for Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday, allowing one run in six innings, striking out seven. Mitre has completed his 50-game suspension for using a banned substance.

May 6, 2007 In an 8-1 victory against the Seattle Mariners, Chien-Ming Wang carried a perfect game into the eighth inning. Chien-Ming Wang, right, and Robinson Canó after the eighth. Wang was perfect through seven and a third innings