Wang Chien-ming's (
The 190cm right-hander from Tainan, who became the second Taiwan-born pitcher (after Tsao Chin-hui [
Wang retired the first 10 bat-ters he faced before surrendering a single in the bottom of the fourth to Orlando Hudson.
Up 3-0, the 25-year-old rookie allowed a pair of runs in the fifth when Eric Hinske led off the inning with a single and scored on Russ Adam's ground-ball out to first, two batters later.
Alex Rios would score on the ensuing play when Frank Catalanotto just beat out the throw to first for an infield single.
Accolades from his teammates filled the clubhouse following the game as the Yankees celebrated the win.
"He [Wang] made it look pretty easy," Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina said. "Maybe we're all trying too hard and we should just go out and do what he did. He looked pretty good."
Even A-Rod was pleased.
"He [Wang] was so poised out there, especially here at the Stadium," third baseman Alex Rodriguez said. "It was a nice lift, and hopefully it can bring some energy here for a while."
Wang left the game with a 3-2 lead after the seventh inning and saw fellow reliever Tom Gordon yielding a game-tying solo homer to Corey Koskie in the eighth to deny him the chance for the victory.
"It would be nice to have the win, but I'm not going to worry about it too much," Wang said during a video press conference with local reporters yesterday.
"There will be a next time," he said.
He gave himself a "B" for his first pitching performance in the majors, which included mostly his 150kph-plus fastball and a two-seamed sinker, along with a couple of splitters and sliders.
Wang came into the game well prepared.
"I was able to look at the tapes from Randy Johnson's game [on Friday] to get ready for this game," Wang said.
The Yankees' coaching staff gave Wang a 100-pitch limit without a preset number of innings to play.
He ended up throwing 81 pitches over seven frames with an impressive 54-27, strike-to-ball ratio.
Manager Joe Torre was pleased with his Taiwanese import, referring to Wang's performance as "the best start by a rookie for the Yankees since I took over as manager in 1996."
On hand to witness Wang's debut were his parents and wife Wu Jia-ling (
"Wang was great in my opinion," Wu told reporters during the video conference. "I'd give him a perfect score for what he did out there."
The Wang family will have more than a great memory of this special day to share when they return to Taiwan, because Wang Chien-ming was handed a gift from the Yankees' manager -- the starting lineup card for the game autographed by Joe Torre.
PROVOCATIVE: Chinese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Sun Lei accused Japan of sending military vessels to deliberately provoke tensions in the Taiwan Strait China denounced remarks by Japan and the EU about the South China Sea at a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, and accused Tokyo of provocative behavior in the Taiwan Strait and planning military expansion. Ayano Kunimitsu, a Japanese vice foreign minister, told the Council meeting on maritime security that Tokyo was seriously concerned about the situation in the East China and South China seas, and reiterated Japan’s opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” by force, and obstruction of freedom of navigation and overflight. Stavros Lambrinidis, head of the EU delegation to the UN, also highlighted South China Sea
The final batch of 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks purchased from the US arrived at Taipei Port last night and were transported to the Armor Training Command in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), completing the military’s multi-year procurement of 108 of the tanks. Starting at 12:10am today, reporters observed more than a dozen civilian flatbed trailers departing from Taipei Port, each carrying an M1A2T tank covered with black waterproof tarps. Escorted by military vehicles, the convoy traveled via the West Coast Expressway to the Armor Training Command, with police implementing traffic control. The army operates about 1,000 tanks, including CM-11 Brave Tiger
China on Wednesday teased in a video an aircraft carrier that could be its fourth, and the first using nuclear power, while making an allusion to Taiwan and vowing to further build up its islands, as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources and bolster territorial claims. The video, issued on the eve of the 77th founding anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, featured fictional officers with names that are homophones of three commissioned aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧), Shandong (山東) and Fujian (福建). Titled Into the Deep, it showed a 19-year-old named “Hejian” (何劍) joining the group, sparking
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expects its 2-nanometer (2nm) chip capacity to grow at a compound annual rate of 70 percent from this year to 2028. The projection comes as five fabs begin volume production of 2-nanometer chips this year — two in Hsinchu and three in Kaohsiung — TSMC senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer Cliff Hou (侯永清) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Silicon Valley, California, last week. Output in the first year of 2-nanometer production, which began in the fourth quarter of last year, is expected to
RSS