Liveblog 11: Wang's Making the Leap

After the last game I blogged, the Yankees were one game over .500, 2-1. Now they're... one game over .500, 8-7. Still, they're only one game behind the division leading Boston Red Sox, and have the next two games to try and take the lead for themselves. The team's not in great shape right now. Derek Jeter was injured with a Quadricep strain, Jorge Posada has a bad shoulder, back-up catcher Jose Molina was doing terrifically but is now sitting with a hamstring problem, Wilson Betemit is on the DL with pinkeye, Joba's on family leave after his father collapsed, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy have only had two good games in six combined starts, and Robinson Cano and Jason Giambi have both been slumping horribly. But things aren't all bad. Jeter's come back and hit well, Jorge should be catching again soon, Joba's dad is doing better, and the lineup has shown signs of life in the last couple games.

The biggest bright spot is Chien-Ming Wang, who's been brilliant with a 3-0 record while the rest of the starters have gone 3-6. He's been a bit lucky, still not striking out many and actually not getting as many ground balls either, but he faced the Red Sox last time and pitched a complete game, one run gem. This has been his first good April. In 2005, he was still in the minor leagues. In 2006, he was mediocre. In 2007, he was injured. He still managed to win 19 games the last two years, so it will be interesting to see how well he does with a good start. He was awful in the playoffs and I still don't think he can be a true ace with the way he pitches, but he's still one of the most valuable pitchers in baseball and I hope he can do well again tonight.

Top 1 - First pitch strike starts the game. Jacoby Ellsbury, speedy center fielder and earner of free tacos, grounds out to Wang on the second. Pedroia walks on the next four pitches. David Ortiz, who has been terrible so far, checks his swing but grounds out to Alex Rodriguez, moving Pedroia to second base for Manny Ramirez, who almost won the game against Mike Mussina by himself a few days ago. He doubles, easily driving in Pedroia, equaling his team's offensive output against Wang last time around. Wang works Youkilis down and away, striking him out on four pitches. That inning raised his ERA to a whopping 1.57.

Bottom 1 - Clay Buchholz is the pitcher for the Sox. He somewhat-infamously fell to them in the draft because of character questions after he helped steal and sell his classmates' laptops, but he has pretty impressive stuff, especially the curve and change. A debate this off-season was whether he or Joba is the best pitching prospect in the game right now. I'd take either, although I like Joba more because of the fastball. Melky pops out to the shortstop. I read that there's been an overly high percentage of infield flies this season, although you can chalk that up to the sample size. Jeter lines a single off Sean Casey's glove at first base. Clay's fastball isn't as good as it was last time out. On a 2-0 count, Abreu hits the third heater he sees to right center for a no doubt homer, Yanks lead 2-1. A-Rod follows it with a monster shot of his own, passing the Sox' own Ted Williams for 15th place all-time. Too bad he couldn't do it in Fenway. I'm glad I say Buchholz on my fantasy team tonight. Matsui works a full count but flies out to center. Posada, DHing, grounds out, ending the inning.

Top 2 - JD Drew lines a single over Jeter's head. The only real music my roommate listens to is from Rock Band. It doesn't make any sense. We hear those songs all the time anyway because we play the game constantly, why do you need to hear the song normally too? Wang walks Varitek despite him being hitless in his last 18 at bats against him. Figures I'd say something good about Wang and he'd look kinda crappy in his next start. He walks Casey to load the bases, no outs. Jesus, Wang. Lugo hits an RBI groundout, and the runners move up. John Flaherty in the booth just said something about sinkerballers being one pitch away from getting out of it. Except he got the one pitch and there's still two outs left to get with no force double play available. Lucky play, Ellsbury squibs a grounder to Wang who flips to the catcher, allowing them to run down Varitek for the second out, runners on first and second. Pedroia grounds out to Cano, and the inning ends without too much damage, but Wang's ERA has grown to a behemoth 1.88.

Bottom 2 - Despite working on hitting to the opposite field in Spring, Giambi grounds out thanks to the shift once again. He had a nice at bat though, a bunch of pitches. Cano also grounds out weakly. He is so frustrating to watch when he isn't hitting. Backup-for-the-backup-catcher Chad Moeller singles off Pedroia's glove. Or it's an error, whatever. Cabrera strikes out and the inning's over.

Top 3 - Ortiz falls victim to the same shift as Cano, one out. That was a strange play. Full count, Wang strikes out Ramirez on a fastball that was quite obviously in the zone. But Manny was convinced it was ball four, running down the line before hearing the call and yelling at the umpire, sticking his finger at him. I'm surprised he wasn't thrown out. Youkilis flies out to Melky, three outs.

Bottom 3 - I'm distracted right now. Jeter grounded out. Abreu lines out to Pedroia, who could have easily stepped to his left to catch it, but instead elected to half dive, half fall over for it. Rodriguez strikes out, on to the fourth.

Top 4 - Matsui actually just made a decent play in left field, making a catch against the wall. Varitek doubles down the right-field line, beating out a strong throw by Abreu. The play was really close. Casey singles, Varitek scores as the throw by Melky was up the line, tie ball game. Lugo grounds out to A-Rod, who is able to hold Casey at second. Kind of a funny play, Wang looked back at Casey who stumbled and basically crawled back to second, but no one was there. Ellsbury lines out to center to end the threat. Wang's ERA has exploded to an unfathomable 2.08.

Bottom 4 - Matsui singles up the middle. He's been quietly pretty good with the bat so far. Posada flies out, Giambi's up. He dinks a single to short right, first and second for Cano. He can only fly out to deep center, moving Matsui to third base. After a long at bat, Moeller gets a double to drive in the run. He's two for two and seen fourteen pitches. Very good night. Cabrera walks on five pitches, the bases are loaded for Jeter. Time to break it open. Jeter comes through, singling to right and driving in two runs. That knocks Buchholz out of the game. He really couldn't command the fastball effectively and that led to his downfall. Julian Tavarez is in to relieve him. He's not doing a very good job of it, letting Cabrera score on a wild pitch to Abreu. He does strike him out, though. On to the fifth.

Top 5 - Pedroia doubled and Ortiz singled him in, score's 7-4. Wang's lucky the offense is backing him up tonight. Another single by Ramirez, Ortiz almost got picked off rounding second. Wang really doesn't have it tonight. You have to wonder how much of it is his unfamiliarity with Moeller. Youkilis singles to left field, and this is getting retarded. Drew singles under his glove, two runs score, and Wang's been forced out of the game. Completely inexplicable. This is why I don't think he's an ace. Ross Ohlendorf's coming in to put out the fire. In my experience he's not great at preventing inherited runners from scoring, so Wang's possibly looking at eight earned in just four innings. He strikes out Varitek looking on a quite delayed call. The umpire's messing with the Sox hitters' heads. Casey singles again, driving in Youkilis, tie game. Shucks. He strikes out Lugo looking too. Too bad he couldn't do that to Casey. Ellsbury walks on four pitches. Pedroia singles, two runs score, 9-7 game. Unbelievable. Ortiz struck out, but I don't really have it in me anymore to keep blogging. I'll come back if things change significantly for the better.

Wrap-up - The Yankees game back the very next half-inning, scoring four runs to make it 11-9. They scored four more in the eighth to produce the final score, 15-9. Hawkins and Bruney did well in relief. Ugly win, but it's still a win. Mike Mussina gets a chance to redeem himself tomorrow, pitching against Josh Beckett.