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Wang, Cabrera lift Yankees over Indians

Apr 27, 2008 - 9:51 PM By Todd Krepop PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Chien-Ming Wang did not look like the same pitcher who was roughed up in two starts against the Cleveland Indians in last season's American League Division Series.

Wang outpitched C.C. Sabathia as the New York Yankees defeated the Indians, 1-0, on Sunday to snap a three-game losing streak.

Wang (5-0) yielded four hits in seven innings with two walks and a season-high nine strikeouts - one shy of a career best.

Joba Chamberlain pitched a perfect eighth and Mariano Rivera retired all three batters he faced in the ninth to record his seventh save of the season and his 450th of his career - third on the all-time list.

Despite allowing 12 runs in 5 2/3 innings in his two playoff starts against Cleveland last season, Wang insisted he didn't have any extra motivation facing the Indians.

"Every team is the same," he said.

Every team may be the same to Wang, but his stuff is different this year. Wang, who is primarily a sinkerball pitcher, has started to trust his other pitches.

"Last year, I threw a lot of sinkers and didn't change speeds," he said. "This year, I am throwing more (types of) pitches and changing speeds."

One of those pitches was a slider, which Wang said he threw "20 to 30" times on Sunday.

"He threw more sliders than usual," said catcher Jose Molina, who was a late addition to the lineup when Jorge Posada was scratched. "He wasn't throwing it that much last year."

"He had a very good slider to go along with his sinker," New York manager Joe Girardi said.

The closest the Indians came to scoring against Wang on Sunday was in the third, when Jason Michaels led off the inning with a double. Michaels moved to third on a passed ball, but Wang got Travis Hafner to ground out to end the inning.

"If not the best (pitcher), it was as good as we have seen this year," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "His ball was moving all over the place. It was running and it was cutting. His secondary stuff was good. He was tough today."

Sabathia (1-4) matched Wang pitch-for-pitch until the fifth, when Melky Cabrera gave the Yankees the lead with a one-out home run.

"It was a changeup down," Sabathia said. "He put a good swing on it. You have to give him credit. He put a good swing on it and hit it out of the park."

Robinson Cano led off the inning with a single but was picked off by Sabathia. Cabrera blasted Sabathia's next pitch over the left-field fence for his fifth home run of the season.

Sabathia allowed four hits and struck out eight. It was the second consecutive solid start for Sabathia, who pitched six scoreless innings in his last outing at Kansas City.

"It's frustrating to lose," Sabathia said. "We don't get shut out much, but Wang was pretty good today. You have to give him credit."

Cleveland was without leadoff hitter Grady Sizemore, who twisted his right ankle in Saturday's 4-3 victory over the Yankees.

Sizemore was the current "iron man" of the majors, having played in 382 consecutive games.