MAJOR LEAGUES
After more than a year without earning a win, New York Yankees pitcher Wang Chien-ming scored his first victory of the season in a game against the New York Mets at Citi Field in New York on Sunday night. The Yankees defeated the Mets 4-2.
Since Wang was called up to the majors in 2005, winning games was a way of life. Wang won 19 games in both 2006 and 2007, and he had eight victories by mid-June last year. Had he not injured his right foot, he could have added more.
PHOTO: AFP
However, Wang’s performances this season have not been impressive. Before he was removed from the rotation, Wang did not score a single victory, suffering six straight losses in the first three months of the season.
It was a year and 13 days between Sunday night’s win and his last victory.
Gaining support and confidence after his teammates scored three runs in the first inning, Wang gave up two runs on four hits, with three walks, a hit batsman and three strikeouts. He used 85 pitches, his second-highest total this year, and nine of his last 13 outs came on grounders.
Wang was solid through five-and-a-third innings in his longest start of the season until he was replaced by Phil Coke after Fernando Tatis helped Gary Sheffield advance to second base with a sacrifice hit, culminating in Mariano Rivera’s 500th career save.
In related news, 26-year-old Taiwanese player Ni Fu-te of the Toledo Mud Hens, the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, was called up to replace the injured Nate Robertson on the Tigers’ roster on Sunday, becoming the sixth Taiwanese to be called up by a major league team.
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