I guess Chien-Ming Wang can be a strikeout pitcher.

Wang fanned a career-high 10 and the Bombers blasted three home runs as the Yankees trounced the Mets 8-2 on a Sunday evening in the Bronx.

The Good:

Chien-Ming Wang.  Wang was "wangterful" (my buddy Vinny came up with that one.  Yeah, I'm stealing it.) against the Metropolitans.  His sinker was devastating, his slider was sharp and his change up was unfair.  The Mets really had no shot and Wang can be downright scary if he's able to harness all those pitches.  Why did Torre pull Wang with 2 outs and nobody on in the top of the ninth?  Who knows?  I honestly don't know if I've ever seen that before, but Wang has cemented his place as the ace of the staff.  Wang improved to 7-4 on the year like this: 8.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 10 K, 1 hit batter.

Alex Rodriguez.  A-Rod keeps hitting homers harder and farther.  Rodriguez slammed his 27th dinger of the year in the first to give the Yanks a 2-0 lead.  It's almost as if A-Rod is on a personal mission to become the first player to hit a ball out of Yankee Stadium.  He finished 2 for 2 with a walk, 2 runs scored and 3 RBI.

Johnny Damon.  Every time I think Damon is creeping toward the DL, he puts together a great game.  Damon singled in a run in the the second to put the Yanks up 4-0 and then hit a Yankee Stadium homer to right that gave the Yanks a comfy 6-0 advantage.  He finished 2 for 5 with 1 run scored and 2 runs batted in.  Go, Johnny, go! 

The Bad:

Joe Torre.  I could see if there were less than 2 outs.  I could see if Wang was losing steam.  I could see if there were runners on base.  I could see if the score was 5-2.  However, I can't see why Torre would remove Wang (or any pitcher for that matter) with 2 outs and nobody on in the ninth with a 6 run lead.  Yeah, Carlos Delgado is a lefty and Mike Myers was warming, but it's not like Delgado was the tying run.  Delgado isn't even swinging the bat well.  Torre has made strange moves regarding pitching changes before, but this one really puzzled me.

The Ugly:

The Bronx is Burning.  ESPN ran the promo for their new eight-part mini-series about the 1977 New York Yankees.  This thing looks so ridiculous I may just have to watch it.  Oliver Platt plays George Steinbrenner and John Turturro is Billy Martin.  I don't understand why ESPN feels like they know how to make movies or series, but someone should tell them to stick to showing live sporting events.  It's set to air in July.

Monday is a travel day as the Yanks head to Colorado to kick it National League style against the Rockies on Tuesday.  Mike Mussina will get the nod and has pitched well so far in June (3 starts, 1-0, 3.86 ERA).  The Rockies will send Josh Fogg who sports a devilish 6.66 ERA this year at Coors Field.

Let the challenge for best-hitting Yankee pitcher begin!

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