Derek Jeter's first career grand slam might have stolen the show from teammate Wang Chien-ming (
In just 88 pitches, 57 of which went for strikes, Wang had his best game since being called up from triple A on April 30, holding the National League's top-hitting squad (with a .278 batting average as of June 18) to one run on five hits over eight spectacular innings.
He struck out five and walked one with a repertoire of pitches consisting of mostly sinkers and fastballs, along with an occasional slider or changeup.
It was not until the top of the fourth that a Cubs player was able to hit the ball out of the infield.
Wang had a 3-0 shutout going until the top of the sixth when the Cubs' Jason Dubois led off the inning with a solo homer to left-center on a 2-1 pitch that was low and away.
The 25-year-old native of Tainan would not be rattled as he gathered his composure and retired nine of the next 10 batters he faced.
"This kid [Wang] has been a bonus," said New York manager Joe Torre, according to the Major League's official Web site. "I don't think anybody could have envisioned him pitching as well as he's pitched."
New York spotted Wang a one-run, first-inning lead when Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez knocked in Gary Sheffield from second on a line-drive single up the middle.
New York then added two more runs in the fourth and fifth on a pair of scoring drives by catcher Jorge Posada and Sheffield, to provide a 3-0 cushion.
After the Cubs closed the gap to 3-1 in the top of the sixth, the Yankees hitters went to work again in the bottom half of the inning, putting up four runs on Jeter's grand slam, his first in 135 career at-bats with the bases loaded.
Jeter's second homer of the game, this time a solo shot over the right-field wall, was icing on the cake in front of a sold-out crowd of 55,284, who witnessed the Yankees' fifth in a row following a dismal 3-9 road trip.
Pocketing the impressive win in a nationally televised game, Wang improved to 4-2 for the season while dropping his earned-run average to 3.97.
Wang has a perfect 3-0 record in four career starts at the Yankee Stadium.
"We've never seen him [Wang] and he had a pretty good sinker going, and every time we had something going it would end up in a double play," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said.
The Yankees defense turned two double plays on an error-free day, doing its part to keep their winning streak alive.
Veteran lefty Glendon Rusch fell to 5-3 for the season with the loss on a day where the Chicago offense never seemed to have left the clubhouse.
Cardinals 5, Devil Rays 2
At St. Petersburg, Florida, Albert Pujols homered in support of Matt Morris, helping the St. Louis right-hander remain unbeaten with a victory over Tampa Bay.
Morris (8-0) allowed two runs and five hits in eight innings and retired 15 of the last 16 batters he faced. The Devil Rays had one hit -- Carl Crawford's eighth-inning triple -- after the third.
The victory hiked the Cardinals' lead in the National League Central to a season-high 8 games over the Chicago Cubs. It also moved Tony La Russa into a tie with Bucky Harris for fourth-place on managerial career wins list with 2,157.
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