Bronx, N.Y., 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.

BTW,TYW

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!