05/12: Wang strong with help from A-Rod and Bernie to beat A's 2-0
Posted by: David
Chien Ming-Wang and Barry Zito were both pitching great, however Chien Ming-Wang was a little better and was helped by four double play balls during the time he was in. He left after eight with the Yankees leading 1-0 due to an A-Rod homer off of Zito. Bernie Williams connected in the bottom of the eighth off former Yankee Randy Keisler to put the Bombers ahead 2-0.
Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth and held on without giving up a run. He got Dan Johnson on a ground ball for the first out, but then walked Scutaro and Ellis followed with a single to right to put runners on first and third with only one out. Mo beared down and got Nick Swisher to bounce to Andy Phillips at first which he turned into a slick game ending double play.
Wang was very impressive from the start, getting most of the outs on the ground and using only 85 pitches in eight innings. The Yankees lineup is not quite as potent with Sheffield and Matsui being absent. They were replaced by Bernie Williams in right and Melky Cabrera in left. However, I look upon this as an opportunity for the Yankees not to have to rely on the home run. They will now have to hit and run, steal bases and move baserunners along with productive outs.
The series resumes tomorrow afternoon with Jaret Wright facing another ex-Yankee in Brad Halsey. Halsey had replaced injured A's pitcher Rich Harden in the rotation. On Sunday afternoon Randy Johnson goes to the mound in a much anticipated start to see if he can straighten himself out after the disastrous outing on Tuesday against Boston.
Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth and held on without giving up a run. He got Dan Johnson on a ground ball for the first out, but then walked Scutaro and Ellis followed with a single to right to put runners on first and third with only one out. Mo beared down and got Nick Swisher to bounce to Andy Phillips at first which he turned into a slick game ending double play.
Wang was very impressive from the start, getting most of the outs on the ground and using only 85 pitches in eight innings. The Yankees lineup is not quite as potent with Sheffield and Matsui being absent. They were replaced by Bernie Williams in right and Melky Cabrera in left. However, I look upon this as an opportunity for the Yankees not to have to rely on the home run. They will now have to hit and run, steal bases and move baserunners along with productive outs.
The series resumes tomorrow afternoon with Jaret Wright facing another ex-Yankee in Brad Halsey. Halsey had replaced injured A's pitcher Rich Harden in the rotation. On Sunday afternoon Randy Johnson goes to the mound in a much anticipated start to see if he can straighten himself out after the disastrous outing on Tuesday against Boston.
Michael wrote:
I was surprised that Torre went with Mo in the 9th after Wang pitched 8 effective innings of shutout. Since today is a day game, do you think Mo could come in the 9th after pitching last night? I'm not so sure that this was a good move with Wright on the mound today.