Younger Players Give Yanks a Spark

Yankees 7, Royals 1

Chien-Ming Wang and Robinson Canó will always be linked by their entry into the major leagues early in 2005. Their instant production helped save that sagging season and caused an epiphany for the Yankees’ management.

sag v. 下陷；(精神)萎靡；(物價)下降，蕭條
epiphany n. 引發頓悟的景色、經驗

“All of a sudden,” Manager Joe Torre said, “you realized that from within our organization, you knew you had impact players, as opposed to just using them as trade bait.”

bait n. 餌；誘餌

The Yankees had built a dynasty around a core of homegrown talent, and the sudden emergence of Wang and Canó was a revelation for a team that had won division titles but somehow lost its way. Yankee Stadium is still a haven for the old and overpaid, but the team is steadily getting younger and livelier.

revelation n. 被揭露的真相；出乎意料的事
haven n. 避風港


Wang and Canó led the Yankees to a 7-1 victory against the Kansas City Royals last night, and three other homegrown Yankees — Melky Cabrera, Shelley Duncan and Andy Phillips — had at least two hits apiece. The victory lifted the team to nine games above .500, at 59-50, with the rookie Phil Hughes scheduled to return to the mound today.

apiece adv. 每個，每人

“There are so many great players in this organization, players that no one has ever heard of,” Duncan said. “A lot of times people will get caught up in things scouts say and only hear two or three names. But there are a lot of players in this organization, and it's evident by every team’s record. Guys play hard, and it's always fun when you get to see your peers you played with through the system come up and have success.”

The Yankees would be thrilled to see Hughes repeat Wang’s performance. Wang is 10-1 in his last 13 starts, and his 31 victories since May 7, 2006, are the most of any pitcher in the majors in that span. In seven innings last night, he allowed one run and seven hits.

thrill v. 使...興奮；使...顫抖
span n. 一段時間


Canó homered, singled and scored twice, and Cabrera had two doubles, including one that bounced off the lower leg of pitcher Ryan Braun and landed behind the Yankees’ dugout, driving in two runs.

Alex Rodriguez went 1 for 3 with a double, a walk and a sacrifice fly, but he remains stuck on 499 home runs. He has not homered since July 25 in Kansas City, a span of 29 at-bats, including one in the completion of a suspended game on July 27.

The pursuit of his 500th home run is not quite an afterthought, but it is not the focus of the games anymore.

“It's going to come, because of the fact that he's playing the game of baseball, as opposed to just trying to hit a home run,” Torre said. “He's very comfortable and seems a lot more relaxed, personality-wise.”

The Yankees have two more games against Kansas City before three in Toronto. That will finish a stretch of 29 consecutive games (including the suspended game) against teams with records below .500.

So far, the Yankees have done what they hoped to do, going 17-7 in this stretch and becoming playoff contenders again. They are two and a half games behind Detroit for the lead in the American League wild-card race.

Wang is the most dependable starter on a decorated Yankees staff. He has worked at least six innings in 19 of 20 starts this season, and his earned run average, 3.49, is better than it was last season, when he was the runner-up to Minnesota’s Johan Santana for the A.L. Cy Young award.

Still, Wang was not pleased with his previous two outings, when he allowed more hits than he had innings pitched, and more walks than strikeouts. Last night’s game was an improvement.

“Today, I had better control, and speed was better,” Wang said. “I tried not to think too much and throw to the catcher's target.”

Wang thrives with his sinker, which tails away from a left-handed hitter. Recently, he has worked on throwing harder fastballs in on left-handers, to keep them from leaning in for a good look at the sinker.

thrive v. 成旺，興旺；茁壯成長

“It's tough for him to throw sinkers in to left-handers, because it always comes back out over the plate,” the pitching coach Ron Guidry said. “And we talked about, ‘Go in, but go in with your four-seamer, your best fastball, at 94-95-95.’ That gets them away from hanging out, because they can't do that anymore.”

After the Royals singled three times to score a run in the third, Wang held them to two hits over the next four innings, leaving after a leadoff double in the eighth.

The Yankees had a 6-1 lead by then, with Canó instrumental in all three rallies. He homered off Odalis Pérez in the second inning, singled and scored in the fourth and walked to lead off the three-run sixth.

instrumental a. 有幫助的

Two innings later, Canó ranged far across the second-base bag for a Billy Butler grounder, snagging it and whipping a sidearm throw to first for the out. Canó is hitting .462 since July 15, and his costly error Thursday is all but forgotten.

snag v. 加以阻撓
whip v. 猛然挪動(拔出、拿取)
sidearm a. 【棒】側投的


“He's a special player,” Torre said. “That's all I can say. He's a real special player.”