Wang.

After three straight shaky outings, Chien-Ming Wang threw more than twenty pitches and allowed a run (an RBI single from, guess who, Magglio Ordonez) in the first inning. But his sinker was moving in the right direction and Wang settled in, giving up just one more run over the next seven innings. Wang gave the Yanks length just when they needed it the most (Brian Bruney tossed a scoreless ninth), as New York beat Detroit, 7-2. While the Red Sox bombed The White Sox again, the Rangers beat the Mariners. So the Yanks gain a game in the wild card. They are two behind the M’s, three in the loss column.

The Yanks scored a couple of early runs off Jeremy Bonderman, who also fell into a groove. But Bonderman is not the pitcher he was last year. His fastball is not in the mid-to-upper 90s and eventually, the Yanks got to him. Melky Cabrera hit a triple with the bases loaded in the sixth, Johnny Damon hit a solo dinger and a triple, and Hideki Matsui had three hits and a couple of RBI.

It wasn’t a terribly exciting game, which was just fine with me–my body is still recovering from Friday night. Jorge Posada caught all nine innings so I assume we’ll see Molina this afternoon. Joe Torre talked about giving Alex Rodriguez a rest last week but that hasn’t happened yet (Alex was 1-3 with two walks and a run scored last night). I wonder if Damon gets another start today at DH, or if Giambi will get the nod.

Today is pivotal. Phil Hughes, this is your life, kid. With Mussina-Verlander going tomorrow, this is the game the Bombers need to have.