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作者: psion (psion) 看板: Baseball
標題: 來看看NYTimes怎麼寫...
時間: Sun May 1 11:57:09 2005

An April Victory Brings May Hopes
By DAVID PICKER

Published: May 1, 2005


For the first three innings of Chien Ming Wang's major league debut yesterday,
a 4-3 victory over Toronto, it looked as if he might do the unthinkable.

Wang, the Taiwanese right-hander whom the Yankees called up Wednesday to
replace the injured Jaret Wright, pitched three perfect innings. Whispers of
a no-hitter raced across Yankee Stadium.

And for a change, the Yankees gave their starting pitcher some early run
support. In their previous three games, all losses, they managed a combined
two runs. By the fourth inning, they led by 3-0, a ray of light on a raw and
damp afternoon.

Then the Yankees' bats fell silent, Wang surrendered a pair of runs and it
appeared the team's April doldrums were going to continue for one final game.

But with the score tied at 3-3 in the ninth inning, Tony Womack hit a
game-winning single with the bases loaded.

The Yankees (10-14) were happy to escape April. Last week, they guaranteed
themselves a losing April for the first time since 1991.

After yesterday's game, Yankees players wanted to thank Wang for lifting the
team's spirits. There was only one problem: he was not around.

"We had to dig him out of the shower to have everybody congratulate him,"
Manager Joe Torre said, laughing. "And he still didn't seem to be overly
impressed."

Yankees fans among a paid attendance of 47,483 appeared quite impressed with
Wang's start. His first pitch, to Frank Catalanotto, was a called strike.
After the first inning, he seemed serene as he walked off the field and into
the Yankees' dugout, to the sound of cheers.

"I did feel nervous in the first inning," Wang said through an interpreter.
"Once I started out, I felt much more relaxed and I was able to continue."

Wang, 25, allowed six hits and two earned runs in seven innings. He walked two,
had no strikeouts and threw 81 pitches, 54 for strikes.

Torre chose to remove Wang with the Yankees leading by 3-2 heading into the
eighth inning. He went to Tom Gordon, who gave up a solo home run to Corey
Koskie, setting the stage for Womack's ninth-inning hit.

"I did not completely realize that urgency," Wang said, referring to the
much-needed victory. "However, what I did feel was, as long as I do what I
have always been doing, this should be just fine, such as in Triple-A."

Wang, who pitched for the Chinese-Taipei team at the 2004 Olympics in Athens,
was 2-0 with a 4.15 earned run average in four starts at Class AAA Columbus.

"He's very sneaky and he's got a fastball that jumps," Torre said. "He jammed
a lot of people. He broke a lot of bats, which means he's got a better fastball
than a lot of people give him credit for."

Before the game, Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman said Wang would not be
judged on one start.

Wang faced his first test in the fourth inning, when he allowed his first hit,
a one-out infield single to Orlando Hudson. Koskie then hit a two-out single,
but Wang pitched out of the jam.

In the fifth inning, Wang gave up a leadoff single to Eric Hinske, then walked
the next batter, Alex Rios. Both players scored, but the Yankees escaped the
inning with a 3-2 lead.

"Even in the inning where they scored the two runs, you know, he certainly
didn't do anything wrong," Torre said. "He had the one walk in there, but he
managed to get outs and they scored runs on outs, and you really can't fault
him on that."

Alex Rodriguez, who sliced a solo homer into the right-field seats during the
fourth inning off Dave Bush to give the Yankees a three-run lead, said this
victory was for the Yankees' mental health.

"I think it was most important to win a game of that magnitude, tight," he
said. "For our psyche, it's important, rather than just win, 11-1 or 10-2.
To go out and get a team win and a big hit by Womack."

The Yankees took a 2-0 lead in the first against the Blue Jays (13-12). They
started with three consecutive singles up the middle. Derek Jeter singled and
scored on Bernie Williams's single. Williams scored when Hideki Matsui grounded
into a double play.

Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect ninth for the victory. Rivera, who had not
pitched since April 21 in Toronto, missed the Yankees' last two games because
of a viral infection.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees loaded the bases when Andy Phillips
reached on a fielder's choice, Tino Martinez singled and pinch-hitter Jorge
Posada was intentionally walked. Womack's single into right field drove home Bubba Crosby, who was inserted as a pinch-runner.

Womack said: "We've been grinding and we're still there. Now we can turn a new
page - May, tomorrow - and we can get out of April."

Rodriguez said: "It's a great win for us. Stops the bleeding."

INSIDE PITCH

Alex Rodriguez is the first Yankee to hit eight home runs at Yankee Stadium in
April. ... The game was delayed for 56 minutes because of rain. ... Designated
hitter Jason Giambi left the game in the sixth inning with a cramp in his right
forearm. He was replaced by Andy Phillips.

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