Rookie right-hander Wang Chien-ming (
Wang became a valuable member of the Yankees' injury-plagued rotation during the first half of the season. The Taiwanese pitcher went 6-3 with a 3.89 ERA in 13 games, including 12 starts, then landed on the disabled list himself in July with a strain and inflammation in his shoulder.
"He's got a great deal of confidence," manager Joe Torre said.
Wang said he is throwing without pain and with his normal velocity. He added that he won't need surgery after the season.
"It feels better, feels good," Wang said.
Devil Rays 4, YANKEES 3
Second baseman Robinson Cano's error in the ninth inning allowed the go-ahead run to score, and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays won the season series against the Yankees for the first time, beating New York 4-3 on Tuesday.
The Devil Rays are 10-4 against the Yankees in 2005 after beginning the season 31-80 against New York since entering the major leagues in 1998.
Jonny Gomes had two hits, scored a run and made a pair of strong throws in the sixth inning, helping keep the Devil Rays' deficit to a run.
The Yankees couldn't hold a three-run lead with Randy Johnson on the mound and lost the opener of a six-game homestand. New York fell four games behind the American League East-leading Boston, which opens a three-game series at Yankee Stadium on Friday.
Derek Jeter scored a run and drove in another for the Yankees.
Pinch-hitter Aubrey Huff singled off Mariano Rivera (6-4) with one out in the ninth, and pinch-runner Joey Gathright stole second. Julio Lugo hit a grounder behind second, which Cano allowed to go between his legs.
Chad Orvella (3-2) won in relief, and Danys Baez got the final three outs for his 34th save.
Red Sox 3, Angels 2
At Boston, David Ortiz hit a game-winning homer in the bottom of the ninth, and Tim Wakefield pitched his second complete game for the Red Sox.
Wakefield (15-10) allowed two runs and eight hits and walked three, two intentionally. He struck out seven for Boston's fourth complete game of the season and second in three games.
The Red Sox led 2-0 before the Angels tied it with runs in the sixth and seventh. Both teams squandered chances to take the lead until Ortiz connected off Scot Shields (8-11), who started the ninth by striking out Edgar Renteria.
Pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett stole two bases, then scored the decisive run on Jason Lane's single in the ninth inning to send the National League wild-card leading Houston Astros past the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1.
The Astros moved 1 1/2 games ahead of Philadelphia in the wild-card race with their 11th consecutive win over the Phillies.
Bruntlett's daring dashes made a winner of Roy Oswalt (17-11), who struck out eight, allowed six hits and one earned run in eight innings. Brad Lidge worked the ninth for his 34th save.
With one out in the ninth, Lance Berkman was walked by Billy Wagner (4-2) before Bruntlett came on.
Philadelphia's run came on Ryan Howard's fifth-inning homer. Craig Biggio homered in the first for Houston.
Cubs 5, Cardinals 2
At St. Louis, Chicago's Glendon Rusch was perfect for six innings and pitched into the eighth.
Derrek Lee hit his 40th homer on his 30th birthday and drove in two runs for the Cubs, who knocked out Matt Morris in the fifth and won for the fourth time in five games.
Corey Patterson also homered for the Cubs.
Leading off the seventh, David Eckstein singled up the middle to break up Rusch's perfect game. Rusch (6-8) allowed two runs on four hits in 7 2-3 innings, and Ryan Dempster got his 23rd save.
Morris (14-7) allowed four runs on nine hits.
Edgar Velazquez hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning to lift Puerto Rico to a 6-4 win over Taiwan. Taiwan led 4-3 in the sixth inning on a three-run shot by Kuo Chun-yu.
Puerto Rico improved to 3-1, as did Japan, which beat Colombia 12-0. Tsutomu Takanezawa and Daisuke Kusano both it three-run homers and Yoshikazu Doi gave up just four hits over seven innings for Japan. Keiji Ikebe also homered for Japan.
Lloyd McClendon was fired Tuesday as manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates with the team only one defeat away from a fifth consecutive losing season. Bench coach Pete Mackanin is set to serve as interim manager for the rest of the season.
The team is expected to begin searching immediately for a replacement for McClendon, a former Pirates player and coach.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB