[外電] Fenway sellout sees nothing but Wang
※ [本文轉錄自 CMWang 看板]
作者: xiemark (aisinjuro) 看板: CMWang
標題: [外電] Fenway sellout sees nothing but Wang
時間: Sat Apr 12 15:09:23 2008
Fenway sellout sees nothing but Wang
By Jerry Crasnick
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: April 11, 2008
Mike Lowell's thumb injury will have healed, and David Ortiz's psyche
will have mended. Derek Jeter will be back in the lineup, Jorge Posada
will be back behind the plate, and Alberto Gonzalez will be back on the
developmental plan with Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Right now it's all about patching holes, adjusting to adverse
circumstances and making do. And lest we forget, staying dry.
The weather was cold, drizzly and generally rotten Friday night in
Boston, but that didn't prevent the Red Sox from selling out Fenway Park
for the 392nd consecutive time. Fans who showed up looking for the Red
Sox to have yet more fun at the expense of their arch-nemeses were
treated to an alternate scenario: A whole lot of Chien-Ming Wang.
A year to the day after Seattle's Felix Hernandez flirted with a
no-hitter at Fenway, Wang was at his coolly efficient best. He twirled a
93-pitch, complete-game two-hitter Friday to become the first three-game
winner in the big leagues, and the Yankees downed the Red Sox 4-1.
Wang, like the Red Sox's ground crew, is already in mid-season form. He
pounded the strike zone at or below the knees and consistently worked
from ahead in the count. In an odd twist, he was at his best while his
money pitch, the sinking, two-seam fastball, failed to produce the usual
results.
In his first two starts this season, against Toronto and Tampa Bay, Wang
induced 25 groundouts and six flyouts. Against Boston, he recorded 14
outs on flyballs and 10 on groundballs. The Red Sox, by all accounts,
did a pretty good job of elevating a pitch that's tough to hit in the
air.
"The game plan is to get it up and stay in the middle of the field, and
we did at times,'' said Boston manager Terry Francona. "But we had
nothing to show for it.''
J.D. Drew, the man who ended Hernandez's no-hit bid with a ground single
up the middle in the eighth inning on April 11, 2007, broke up Wang's
bid with a solo homer in the fifth. But where the Red Sox and Yankees
are concerned, things are never that simple.
After retiring the first 10 hitters in order, Wang benefited from what
appeared to be a charitable call from official scorer Chaz Scoggins in
the fourth. Alex Rodriguez made a fine diving stop of a Dustin Pedroia
shot down the third-base line, jumped to his feet and made a rushed,
high throw to pull first baseman Jason Giambi off the bag. It looked
like a hit, but Rodriguez was charged with an error, keeping Wang's
no-no intact.
"Obviously, I thought it was a hit,'' Rodriguez said. "But I was hoping
he'd get a no-hitter, so I didn't care. I didn't want to be responsible
for spoiling history.''
When Wang got under a few two-seamers in the fifth, the lapse bit him.
Drew hit a long drive to center field, and Bobby Abreu braced himself to
make a leap for the ball. But his shoulder bumped against the fence,
throwing him off-kilter, and he made a sincere yet ineffectual jump. The
ball cleared his glove by inches and landed in front of reliever Mike
Timlin in the Boston bullpen.
For a while, it looked as if Abreu's failure to launch might cost Wang a
place in history. Don't think Abreu wasn't aware of it.
"I saw the innings going by, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, and a lot of things were
going through my head,'' Abreu said. "I just feel bad about it.''
When Coco Crisp dropped down a bunt single in the ninth, Abreu was
technically off the hook. After Pedroia lined out to left field to end
it, he was able to stand at his locker, grin sheepishly, and offer a
half-hearted joke when asked what he would have done differently.
"I would have caught it,'' he said.
In reality, the Yankees and Red Sox are both still feeling their way
along in the early going. The Sox are trying to find their equilibrium
after a spring Japan fling, the LA Coliseum extravaganza and a
season-opening trip to Oakland and Toronto. Since returning home to
Boston, they've experienced a flag-raising, a ring ceremony and a
long-distance Neil Diamond shout-out via the center-field video board.
And pardon this city if it's a bit distracted at the moment. The
Celtics, who have the best record in the NBA, were at home against
Milwaukee on Friday night. The Bruins are playing Montreal in the
Stanley Cup playoffs, and Boston College will meet Notre Dame in the
Frozen Four finals Saturday night. Do the good times ever end in this
town?
As for the Yankees, they're breaking in a new manager in Joe Girardi,
and placing a new emphasis on young starting pitching as a core element
of a long-term plan. The offense, counted on to carry the team, so far
ranks in the bottom half of the AL in several offensive categories.
Giambi hit a big solo homer Friday, but he's still mired at .095. If
it's any consolation, he's doing a heck of a lot better than Boston's
resident lefty slugger. David Ortiz struck out, bounced out and grounded
into a double play against Wang and is now batting .077 (3-for-39). He's
so messed up and so clearly pressing, Francona felt compelled to pull
him into the office Friday for a little self-esteem enhancement.
"When a guy makes an out in his first at bat and he's already feeling it
from the day before, it's my responsibility to say, 'This is how good
you are, and this is how good you're going to be,' '' Francona said.
"Sometimes even guys like David need reminding how good they are.''
The Yankees, meanwhile, expect to play this entire series without Jeter,
who's bothered by a strained left quadriceps. His shortstop spot is
being filled by Gonzalez, a strong defender who came over from Arizona
last year in the Randy Johnson trade.
"Derek warned me, 'I'm not very good on the bench. I'm going to drive
you crazy,' '' Girardi said. "We'll see how many days it takes.''
It's a lot easier sitting in the Yankees' dugout when Wang is on the
mound. He leads the majors with 38 victories and a .745 winning
percentage the last two seasons, and judging from his performance
Friday, more of the same is in store.
True, he got under a couple of two-seamers Friday. But as pitching coach
Dave Eiland so sagely observed, "The more good pitches you make, the
more bad ones you're going to get away with.''
Jerry Crasnick covers baseball for ESPN.com. His book "License To Deal"
was published by Rodale. Click here to order a copy. Jerry can be
reached via e-mail.
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◆ From: 203.73.66.174
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