Wang Earns Fifth Win With a Little Improvisation

Chien-Ming Wang allowed four hits and struck out a season-high nine.

By TYLER KEPNER

Published: April 28, 2008

CLEVELAND — The national anthem was played at 12:55 p.m. on Sunday, José Molina remembered, and the first pitch was at 1:07. The 12-minute interval in between was all Molina had to prepare to start at catcher.

Just before the anthem, Molina learned that Jorge Posada would not start because of a recurrence of shoulder pain that will land him on the disabled list. Chien-Ming Wang was about to face the Cleveland Indians, the team that beat him twice in the playoffs last fall. Molina had to form a game plan on the fly.

“I just went with whatever I had in my mind, and he went with whatever he had in his mind, and it worked out,” Molina said, after the Yankees’ 1-0 victory. “I think that’s the way we’re going to do it from now on.”

Wang improved to 5-0, striking out nine in seven innings and allowing four hits and two walks. Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera finished the shutout, and Melky Cabrera’s homer to left field off C. C. Sabathia in the fifth inning provided the only run.

Chamberlain, who briefly tested his left hamstring before the game, looked dominant, striking out two of his three batters. He said a two-day rest after pitching four games in six days helped.

“My mechanics felt the best they’ve felt since I got back,” said Chamberlain, who had spent five days at home tending to his father, who was released from a Lincoln, Neb., hospital Thursday.

Chamberlain said the mild hamstring problem, which was caused by a wet mound in Chicago on Thursday, would remind him not to extend too far with his landing leg. “I guess it can be a blessing in disguise,” he said.

Rivera’s inning was just as overpowering, ending with two called strikeouts. Rivera has converted all seven save chances this season, with 10 strikeouts and no walks in 10 scoreless innings. He and Wang have been the Yankees’ best players in an uneven month (the Yankees are 13-13), and Cabrera, of all players, has led the offense.

Cabrera, who was nearly dealt to Minnesota in a proposed trade for Johan Santana, is hitting .291 with 5 home runs and 11 runs batted in. He is tied for first on the team in homers, ranks second in runs (14), and has a better on-base percentage than Alex Rodriguez.

“Melky’s in a zone right now; he’s in a very good place,” Rodriguez said. “But what I know is he’s just in phenomenal shape. He’s probably 10 pounds lighter now than he was at this time last year. I think that’s a big part of his start, and he’s got a big energy level. He’s our battery on this team.”

In the pitching sense, the battery of Wang and Molina tamed the Indians, whose only extra-base hit was a bloop double to shallow right field. Wang said he used his slider to right-handers and his changeup and splitter to lefties, and he finished one strikeout short of his career high.

“He was throwing more sliders today than usual,” Molina said. “I don’t think he threw that many before. That was the reason he had more strikeouts — people were looking more for his sinker than his slider.”

Rodriguez joked that he would love to have both Wang and Sabathia — a possibility next season if the Yankees sign Sabathia as a free agent — because they are aces.

“When he’s on, he’s phenomenal,” Rodriguez said of Wang. “It seems like he and Molina have a good thing going.”

That is fortunate for the Yankees, because with Posada’s immediate future so murky, Molina and Wang will keep working together for a while.

INSIDE PITCH

Manager Joe Girardi said that Ian Kennedy would make his next start Thursday. Kennedy is 0-2 with an 8.53 earned run average but showed improvement in his last three innings Saturday.

News source：http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/sports/baseball/28yankees.html?_r=1&ref=baseball&oref=slogin