BRONX, New York - With rain threatening to cause
delays, the New York Yankees have scratched righthander
Chien-Ming Wang for Thursday's series finale against the
Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
The Yankees will instead start rookie Jeff Karstens (1-1,
3.42 ERA), who was the scheduled starter for Friday's
series opener against Boston.
Karstens has allowed eight earned runs in 18 2/3 innings
as a starter.
"The weather concerns made us flip flop," Yankees manager
Joe Torre said. "We just don't want Wang to be in a
situation where he has to start and stop because of rain."
Wang, who is 17-5, will now start on Friday. He is 9-1 with
a 2.73 ERA in his last 12 starts, a span that began with
8 1/3 strong innings of a 5-1 win at Tampa Bay on July 8.
That triumph capped one of New York's six winning streaks of
at least four games since July 4, when the team trailed
Boston by 4 1/2 games in the American League East Division.
The Yankees since have gone 42-21 to assume a season-high 11
1/2-game lead atop the division. New York's magic number for a
ninth consecutive AL East title is seven.
Robinson Cano contributed a two-run homer and a three-run double
in Wednesday's 8-4 victory for New York, which needed just 13
meetings to clinch the 19-game season series with Tampa Bay.
The Yankees have won all five series against the Devil Rays in
2006.
Yankees captain Derek Jeter extended his hitting streak to a
career-high 22 games in the victory. It is the longest hitting
streak for a Yankee since Don Mattingly hit in 24 straight games
in 1986.
With a .360 (18-for-50) average against the Devil Rays this
season, Jeter next faces rookie James Shields (6-7, 4.71). In
his first experience here on July 30, the 24-year-old
righthander surrendered four runs and eight hits in seven
innings of a 4-2 loss.
Following that setback in Yankee Stadium, Shields allowed three
runs or fewer in each of his next six starts before surrendering
six runs and seven hits in 3 2/3 innings of an 8-6 loss to
Oakland on Friday. Beginning with that game, the Devil Rays
have given up at least six runs in five straight contests.