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http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/15269168.htm
NEW YORK - Mike Mussina and Chien-Ming Wang have been the mainstays of the Yankees' surge into first place. But life at the top has not been kind to the Bombers and their two most consistent starters. Mussina has lost two in a row, and for the first time all season, Wang has followed one subpar start with another.
Wang allowed a career-worst 13 hits on Sunday, and didn't get out of the sixth inning as the Yankees fell to the Angels, 5-3, before 54,309 at the Stadium. The Angels are 4-2 against the Yankees this season with four games left, including Monday night in the Bronx.
It was the Bombers' fourth loss in six games and if Wang is slipping into a slump, it's certainly the wrong time for it. Boston held on to beat Baltimore on Sunday and has whittled the Yankees' division lead to a game. The White Sox completed a three-game sweep of the Tigers and are again making it look like the wild card will come from the AL Central.
"I'm not worried about him," Joe Torre said of Wang. "He knows how to compete and he's been so good for us. When you go into a little lull like he's been in the last couple times, you don't want him to stay there, but it's not a concern.
"Physically he's fine. And if that's the case, he'll be fine."
The sinkerballing Wang (13-5) did nothing to allay the concern created by his giving up four runs in five innings last Tuesday in Chicago. His second pitch on Sunday ended up as a Chone Figgins home run. Five of the next six hitters singled and the Yankees found themselves down 3-0 with the bases loaded and only one out. Curtis Pride hit into a double play to end the inning, but the Bombers were in a hole to stay.
Angels rookie righty Jered Weaver continued his run of success by succeeding where older brother Jeff failed so often while wearing pinstripes. The Yanks ran his pitch count up to 104, but he left after six innings having allowed one run on three hits and ahead 5-1. Rookie pitchers are 7-5 with a 3.72 ERA against the Yankees this season.
The Yankees scored twice with two out in the ninth on back-to-back home runs by Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi off Scot Shields, but Francisco Rodriguez recorded his 30th save by getting Jorge Posada to pop out to end the game.
"We didn't chip away, we hit home runs," Torre said. "We didn't really mount any threats . . . we were frustrated because we couldn't get anything going. It was just a bad day for us."
The concerns with Wang are related to durability. The Taiwanese righthander now has thrown 50 more innings than he did last year, a season in which he lost nearly two months to a rotator cuff injury.
"He's throwing the ball good," Torre said. "(Last year's injury) came out of left field. It could crop up again, but there were no signs of it last year, either."
"I think I felt better (after starts) in April . . . but more or less the same," said Wang, who gave up five runs in 51/3 innings. "I feel fine."
To his credit, most of the Angels' hits off of Wang went through the infield; sinkerball pitchers are supposed to get grounders. "My pitches were good, but not that good," Wang said. "Everything found a hole."
"The balls were going by," Posada said. "Chone Figgins' home run was the only one I thought that was up in the zone. Other than that, he pitched well.
"He was good today. They just found a lot of holes."
So maybe this was just a case of bad luck for Wang and the Yankees. Both have to hope so.
NEW YORK - Mike Mussina and Chien-Ming Wang have been the mainstays of the Yankees' surge into first place. But life at the top has not been kind to the Bombers and their two most consistent starters. Mussina has lost two in a row, and for the first time all season, Wang has followed one subpar start with another.
Wang allowed a career-worst 13 hits on Sunday, and didn't get out of the sixth inning as the Yankees fell to the Angels, 5-3, before 54,309 at the Stadium. The Angels are 4-2 against the Yankees this season with four games left, including Monday night in the Bronx.
It was the Bombers' fourth loss in six games and if Wang is slipping into a slump, it's certainly the wrong time for it. Boston held on to beat Baltimore on Sunday and has whittled the Yankees' division lead to a game. The White Sox completed a three-game sweep of the Tigers and are again making it look like the wild card will come from the AL Central.
"I'm not worried about him," Joe Torre said of Wang. "He knows how to compete and he's been so good for us. When you go into a little lull like he's been in the last couple times, you don't want him to stay there, but it's not a concern.
"Physically he's fine. And if that's the case, he'll be fine."
The sinkerballing Wang (13-5) did nothing to allay the concern created by his giving up four runs in five innings last Tuesday in Chicago. His second pitch on Sunday ended up as a Chone Figgins home run. Five of the next six hitters singled and the Yankees found themselves down 3-0 with the bases loaded and only one out. Curtis Pride hit into a double play to end the inning, but the Bombers were in a hole to stay.
Angels rookie righty Jered Weaver continued his run of success by succeeding where older brother Jeff failed so often while wearing pinstripes. The Yanks ran his pitch count up to 104, but he left after six innings having allowed one run on three hits and ahead 5-1. Rookie pitchers are 7-5 with a 3.72 ERA against the Yankees this season.
The Yankees scored twice with two out in the ninth on back-to-back home runs by Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi off Scot Shields, but Francisco Rodriguez recorded his 30th save by getting Jorge Posada to pop out to end the game.
"We didn't chip away, we hit home runs," Torre said. "We didn't really mount any threats . . . we were frustrated because we couldn't get anything going. It was just a bad day for us."
The concerns with Wang are related to durability. The Taiwanese righthander now has thrown 50 more innings than he did last year, a season in which he lost nearly two months to a rotator cuff injury.
"He's throwing the ball good," Torre said. "(Last year's injury) came out of left field. It could crop up again, but there were no signs of it last year, either."
"I think I felt better (after starts) in April . . . but more or less the same," said Wang, who gave up five runs in 51/3 innings. "I feel fine."
To his credit, most of the Angels' hits off of Wang went through the infield; sinkerball pitchers are supposed to get grounders. "My pitches were good, but not that good," Wang said. "Everything found a hole."
"The balls were going by," Posada said. "Chone Figgins' home run was the only one I thought that was up in the zone. Other than that, he pitched well.
"He was good today. They just found a lot of holes."
So maybe this was just a case of bad luck for Wang and the Yankees. Both have to hope so.