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Wang injured in Yanks' rout of Astros

Jun 15, 2008 - 11:27 PM HOUSTON (Ticker) -- New York Yankees ace Chien-Ming Wang suffered an apparent right foot injury in Sunday's 13-0 rout of the the Houston Astros.

Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada homered in an eight-run sixth inning as the Yankees banged out 16 hits en route to a sweep of the three-game interleague series. New York (37-33) went 5-1 on its road trip to move a season-high four games over .500.

However, concern about Wang (8-2) overshadowed the Yankees' productive afternoon. He came up lame after scoring from second base on Derek Jeter's single to right field in the sixth and had to be helped off the field. Wang pointed to his right foot, although he also grabbed his right knee.

New York manager Joe Girardi would not speculate about the severity of Wang's injury, only saying that the pitcher will have an MRI exam performed on Monday.

"Sprained foot is what we'll call it, but he has to have a lot of tests tomorrow," Girardi said. "I think it was when he hit the (third base) bag that he hurt it. It's a manager's worst nightmare when a pitcher's on a basepath. It's unfortunate."

Although he had allowed six singles, Wang cruised through the first five innings, walking none and striking out three. Showing the form that enabled him to win 19 games in each of the last two seasons, Wang won his second straight start after going more than a month without a win.

"It's real unfortunate because our pitchers were on a roll," Girardi added. "We were swinging the bats well and playing well. You go on a road trip and win five out of six, you're excited about the direction you're going. We'll have to see what the tests show."

While the Yankees are playing their best baseball of the season, the Astros are headed in the opposite direction after suffering their fifth straight loss.

Roy Oswalt (5-7) hoped he had turned a corner after beating the Milwaukee Brewers in his last outing, but the Yankees pounded him for seven runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.

"We got two strikes and couldn't put anybody away- 118 pitches after 5 2/3 innings," Oswalt said. "Was it a good performance? Not really?"

Still, Oswalt ran into some bad luck in the third inning, when the Yankees opened the scoring with three runs with two outs.

With the bases loaded, Oswalt that he had Posada struck out on a 2-2 pitch. However, plate umpire Marty Foster called it inside, and Posada walked to force in the first run of the game. Oswalt and Foster exchanged words.

"The guy came walking out to the mound," Oswalt said. "I don't know what he was talking about. But you can't carry an attitude out on the field. If you carry an attitude out on to the field, you're not going to pitch well."

Oswalt got some more bad luck, as struggling Robinson Cano followed with a two-run bloop single that landed inches inside the left field foul line.

"They got a broken bat to score the first three runs," Oswalt added. "It could have been 1-0 through five innings."

But the Yankees broke it open in the sixth. After Jeter chased Oswalt with a two-run single, reliever Wesley Wright surrendered a three-run homer to Rodriguez and a two-run shot to Posada. Rodriguez has 26 RBI in 26 games since returning from the disabled list on May 20.

"The road trip was good for us," said Jeter, whose team opens a homestand Tuesday against San Diego. "It's one of those times where you wish you were playing tomorrow."

The Astros' performance left manager Cecil Cooper fuming.

"I was totally embarrassed by this," Cooper said. "It won't happen again. A total embarrassment - 40,000 people, and we don't show up."