Making it three in a row, Taiwan's very own Wang Chien-ming (
The 25-year-old native of Tainan was spectacular in his fifth start as a big leaguer by allowing two runs on five hits while striking out two and walking none. It was not until Wang had retired the first nine batters he faced that the Tigers rang up their first hit off him on a leadoff single by Brandon Inge in the fourth inning.
Even in situations where the odds were against him, Wang showed great poise by sticking with his game plan against each hitter and restricting the damage to a minimum.
He got himself out of a couple of jams by getting Detroit to hit into two double plays, one in the fourth that ended a one-out, with runners on first and second and the other in the sixth, also with one out and runners at the corners.
"He [Wang] looks like a veteran," fellow catcher Jorge Posada was quoted in an article on the Major League Web site. "He doesn't get rattled, he doesn't get out of his game plan, and he is in control."
The Yankee lineup also helped their rookie starter by scoring three runs in the sixth on an RBI double by third baseman Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez and Posada's two-run single to left that turned the one-all tie into a 4-1 advantage.
Another run was charged to Wang after he was replaced one out into the seventh when Yankees reliever Mike Stanton gave up a single to Ramon Martinez to score the runner on third.
But it did not matter much for Wang, because that was as close as the Tigers would get with the New York relievers shutting out the Tigers the rest of the way.
Wang left the game to an ovation by the 51,000-plus fans on hand, cheering their new-found hero in the Big Apple.
He tipped his hat as he walked off the field looking down, showing not much emotion at all, because Wang is exactly the type of pitcher that prefers to let his pitching do the talking.
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