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Yankees hope for consistency on road trip

Jun 10, 2008 - 2:09 PM NY Yankees (32-32) at Oakland (34-29) 10:05 p.m. EDT

OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- The New York Yankees hope a trip out west helps the team find a better rhythm when they visit the Oakland Athletics in the opener of a three-game set Tuesday.

Since a five-game winning streak helped the Yankees climb back to .500 on May 25, New York hasn't been able to get more than one game over that mark, going 7-7 in its last 14 games.

The Yankees are coming off a disappointing four-game split at home against the Kansas City Royals, dropping the series finale, 3-2, on Monday after Mariano Rivera allowed a tie-breaking home run to Jose Guillen in the top of the ninth.

Chien-Ming Wang (6-2, 4.57 ERA) has been pounded over his last four starts but will take the hill for New York.

Wang has allowed 23 earned runs in his last 23 2/3 innings and has not won since improving to 6-0 on May 2. The righthander gave up seven runs - six earned - but did not factor in the decision as New York came from behind to post a 9-8 victory over Toronto on Thursday.

The A's recently avoided a three-game sweep against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as Mark Ellis hit a walk-off grand slam in the 12th inning of Oakland's 7-3 victory on Sunday.

Lefthander Dana Eveland (4-4, 3.82) will be making his first career start against the Yankees and has failed to go past the fifth inning in each of his previous two starts. The 24-year-old had pitched his first career complete game on May 21 before his recent struggles.

Eveland allowed three runs and walked seven batters in 4 1/3 innings but did not factor in the decision as Oakland rallied for a 5-4 victory over Detroit on June 3.