YANKEES PULL A FAST WANG RIGHTY SAVES TIRED 'PEN WITH 8 BIG INNINGS By GEORGE KING August 26, 2007 -- DETROIT - The Yankees will go as far as Chien-Ming Wang takes them. With Andy Pettitte in the middle of a scintillating second-half string of dominance, it's up to Wang to give the Yankees a second starter capable of hurling gems because question marks surround Roger Clemens and Phil Hughes and there are grave concerns about how much Mike Mussina can contribute across the most important five weeks of the Joe Torre Era. Pettitte and Wang may not be enough. But without Wang pitching well out of the second chair, the Yankees have no shot of extending their season into October. Last night at Comerica Park, Wang gave an indication that he is out of a three-game funk by pitching the Yankees to a 7-2 victory over the Tigers in front of 44,250. Though the Yankees remained 6 1/2 games behind the AL-East leading Red Sox, they picked up a game on the Mariners in the wild-card race and trail Seattle by two games. "We needed Wang to throw a good game," Jorge Posada said. "We went through a lot [in the previous game] and we needed him to step up." At 3:30 yesterday morning the Yankees dropped a 9-6 decision in 11 innings. Wang, sent home at midnight to rest, was asked not only to contain the Tigers' lineup but to pitch deep into the game to give a tired bullpen (six relievers in the 11 innings) a break. He accomplished both objectives. In eight innings he allowed two runs (one earned) and five hits to improve to 15-6. Had the top of the ninth gone quicker Joe Torre said he would have had no problem sending Wang out for a shot at a complete game. Wang attributed his best outing since Aug. 3 to advice pitching coach Ron Guidry provided. "He told me to be quicker with my legs," said Wang who gave up a run in the first and another in the fifth when the Tigers plated an unearned run thanks to Posada's seventh passed ball. "And before I tried to make the pitch on the corner, tonight it was over the plate." In Anaheim this week, Guidry instructed Wang to treat an in-between starts bullpen session more like a game. "Usually in the pen he throws just to work," Guidry said. "This time he was aggressive, throwing four-seamers, two-seamers and sliders. He worked great in the bullpen in Anaheim. He was the best I have ever seen in the bullpen." It carried over and produced six strikeouts and two ground-ball double plays. Wang was helped by Hideki Matsui's 3-for-5, two-RBI game, Johnny Damon's homer and RBI triple and Melky Cabrera's bases-loaded, three-run triple in the sixth when the Yankees scored four runs and chased Jeremy Bonderman (10-7) who lost to the Yankees for the second time in six days. Even with Pettitte, who is riding a five-game winning streak, and Wang dealing, it may not be enough to get the Yankees to October. Somebody from the remaining trio has to pitch better and more consistent. Nevertheless, without Wang returning to form, the Yankees have no chance. "Hopefully this will get him going," Posada said. "It's important for him to be like he was tonight." To Bobby Abreu, Pettitte hasn't wrestled the tag "Staff Ace" from Wang. "[Wang] is our No. 1," said Abreu, who went 2-for-3, scored a run and swiped three bases. "He needed this after his last three starts." Not as much as the Yankees needed it, however. [email protected] http://tinyurl.com/yvoxs2 --

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