Bronx, N.Y., June 17, 2007 — The Mets fan seated next to me Friday was delighted, a few shaky innings aside, that he had come to the Bronx to see his team play on a night when “the good Ollie Perez” pitched. And seeing how this Yankee team has been attacking anything but stellar pitching of late, one had to begrudgingly ackowledge his point. Perez dominated. But although it has become increasingly clear that anytime a Yankee fan comes to see Chien-Ming Wang throw, he’ll be good, a new question is coming to the fore: “How did he do it?”
On the last road trip, the young Yankee righthander with the best sinking fastball in the business mixed in an effective slider while beating both the Red Sox in Boston and the Palehose on Chicago’s south side. But five days ago the slider was largely shelved as Wang dominated the D’backs with the high and sinking heat. Which guy would we be getting in the Bronx Sunday night?
There was less question on the Mets side of the mound. Ex-Yank Orlando “el duque” Hernandez came in with a 3-2 record. The Duke changes speeds and tries to conceal his release point, tricks that got him six strike outs into the home fifth. But if he fooled six of the 23 hitters he faced, the other 17 were smacking him nine ways to Sunday. After a three-pitch strike out of Johnny Damon leading off the bottom of the first, Derek Jeter worked him to 3-1 before singling up the middle. Bobby Abreu flied out after missing on a foul home run. But when el duque tried some low cheese on a 2-0 pitch to A-Rod, the Yankee third baseman lifted his second home run in as many days to the back of the visiting bullpen, 2-0 Yanks.
The Bombers plated two runs in five straight fames Saturday. When Hideki Matsui and Damon sandwiched second-inning singles around a Miguel Cairo double Sunday, the Yanks had their seventh two-run inning in their last nine. Bobby Abreu tripled and scored on a Rodriguez sac fly in the third, and Damon upped the Yankee lead to 6-0 with a singleton homer in the fifth. The Duke’s day was done, as were the Mets’ chances.
Meanwhile, Wang was dominating the visitors on offense. Despite hitting Paul Loduca with a one-out pitch, he escaped the first on just five tosses by inducing Carlos Beltran to hit into a second-pitch 4-6-3. Nine Mets were up and nine down through three on just 28 tosses. It took 18 more throws to navigate the fourth after a Jose Reyes leadoff single, though Jorge Posada pegged him out stealing on a pitch out. And although Wang uncharacteristically struck out a batter an inning from the second through the sixth, 19 more tosses got him through six frames on just 65 throws. He had the low count of the traditional Wang, but was striking out batters as he went along.
The secret, apparently, was that Wang was mixing in two off-speed pitches, the mid-eighties slider with which he vanquished both the Red and the White Sox, and a change of pace that sent Jose Valentin and Ruben Gotay back to the dugout looking on this night. Carlos Gomez and Carlos Beltran went fishing at low outside sliders for two more Ks, and Carlos Delgado flailed at high 95 mph cheese in the fifth. Juan Castro, in for a smarting Loduca, swung at a first strike and missed before taking two for Wang’s sixth K in the seventh, and when Beltran followed with a bouncer to second, Wang had thrown just 72 pitches to get 20 outs, and thrown 11 of 19 first-pitch strikes.
Then, depending on your point of view, he either got better, or just differently effective. David Wright swung and missed at a sharp diving slider to become strike out victim no. seven, but when the ball rolled toward the Mets dugout, Wright reached on the wild pitch. Once Carlos Delgado doubled the Mets third sacker in to break up the shutout, Wang got a visit from a guy who knew a thing or two about strike outs and sliders.
Ironically, this was the 29th anniversary of the day that Louisiana Lightning, current Yankee pitching coach Ron Guidry, had his signature day in the Bronx. Guidry struck out 18 Angels and shut them out, and from that day forward, strike outs have become a group activity in Yankee Stadium, witness all the standing and clapping fans with two strikes on an opposition batter. Perhaps it was something “Gator” said. Perhaps he was just very good at calming young Wang and redirecting his focus. But by the time this one was over Wang had 12 ground ball outs and 10 punch outs, accounting for 22 of the 26 outs he would record.
He was wildly effective to [almost] close the game. He failed to throw even one first pitch strike to the last 10 Mets he faced, and the seventh- and eighth-inning pitch counts were 19 and 20, respectively. But after the two whiffs in the seventh, Wang struck out the side around a single in the eighth, overpowering all three Mets batters with hard stuff. And just to add a twist to the performance, he ended his day doing what he does best. Once he allowed a second run on a ninth-inning Castro double and a Beltran single, he ended his day by coaxing Wright to ground into a 5-4-3 double play, the third double dip he garnered on the day. Mike Myers came in to a chorus of boos from fans who wanted to see Wang finish, but Myers made Delgado the 11th Mets strike out victim on three straight, and the Yanks had an 8-2 win in exactly three hours.
It was a gorgeous night in the Bronx, something that cushioned the blow of so many fans who flocked to the Borough hours before game time in fear that they would be blocked from any available parking. The Yanks and the City are advising fans to take mass transit, good advice perhaps on any night but Sunday. But there was a rain delay before last year’s Mets/Yankee Sunday night tilt, and 23 runs in the game that followed, extending the action until almost 1:00 am. The Yankees and the City would be well advised to examine the actual mass transit options available before advising fans to go that way when the Sunday game start time is so late.
One of the great things about being in the Stadium early, by the way, was that fans got to see a full half-hour of catcher Jorge Posada taking ground balls at first, and then going over defensive positioning with the peerless Don Mattingly. Donnie sits next to Joe Torre now, but he was as good a first baseman as could be found back in the day. The Yanks may get Posada’s bat into some some interleague games in NL parks this week by playing him at first, and there could be no better tutor than the great Donnie Baseball.
Aside from featuring the continuing maturation and development of the great Wang on the Yankee mound, there were many other things worthy of note from this game. The offense continues to shine, and the team won eight of nine on the home stand this game completed, and 11 of 12 overall. Alex Rodriguex blasted yet another tape measure home run with three rbi’s. He is having a season for the ages. The Yanks took the series from the Mets two games to one, and tied them at three games apiece in the season record. And as the Yanks’ fortunes rise, the Flushing team’s dip. Tom Glavine and Hernandez gave the Mets rotation stability until recently, but the Yanks battered both. And Jorge Posada homered off setup man Aaron Heilman for the Yanks’ last two runs. David Wright’s 17-game hit streak was stopped as well.
And even Jose Reyes, whose slashing bat and dazzling speed set up the Mets victory in game one, had a tough day. He did break up Wang’s nine-up, nine-down day with a single to lead off the fourth. But after stealing five bases the first two games, Posada calmly pegged him out on a pitch out. The speedster also bounced into a 3-6-3, the most difficult of double plays to turn, with Miguel Cairo leading a slew of great Yankee plays on this one. And Reyes then became Wang’s 10th and last strike out victim to close out the top of the eighth.
Yes. June 17 is just not a good day for stealing, I guess. I mean, just look at the tiny burglary that was broken up in Washington 35 years ago this day.
It took place at the Watergate Hotel.
BTW,TYW
YANKEE BASEBALL!!!