Attitude

BOSTON -- By all accounts, Chien-Ming Wang didn't have his best stuff on Friday, except when he had runners on base.
The Yankees right-hander battled through six-plus innings, tossing 90 pitches, allowing seven hits and three runs.

But when the Red Sox threatened, he had all the answers, holding Boston hitless in 10 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

"I thought he battled, probably not his best stuff, but I thought he hung tight and tough and he came out with the victory," Yankees manager Joe Torre said of his starter, who improved to 14-5 in his breakout season. "For as inexperienced as he is, to be able to do what he did today with men in scoring position and good hitters at the plate, I was very proud. He pitched Ortiz tough, which certainly helps you a little bit."

While most pitchers relish going after a hitter, sometimes the best thing to do is to avoid trouble. Torre could see Wang struggling early, as the Red Sox threatened in the first and third innings. In each case, Manny Ramirez came to the plate with a runner in scoring position, and each time, Wang, on the advice of his skipper, chose to work around Ramirez before issuing an intentional walk.

"He left it to the manager to make the decision," Torre said. "You certainly don't want to say, 'Here Manny, it's 2-0, go ahead and hit it,' because we've seen that too often. He wanted to be careful and he wanted him to throw a pitch he could keep in the ballpark."

Each time, the Red Sox were unable to score and ignite the sellout crowd, leaving six runners on in the first three innings.

"The first time, 3-0, I just didn't want to do it," Torre said. "Both times were two outs. I'm not comfortable doing it, but it turned out all right."

Wang, who was 0-2 with a 6.62 ERA in three career starts at Fenway, felt like a different pitcher on Friday.

"I was more comfortable and I used my slider more," said Wang, who stayed away from his sinker for the most part and stuck to the game plan devised by catcher Jorge Posada and pitching coach Ron Guidry.

"He's pitched against these guys a couple of times, and he's predominantly a one-pitch type of pitcher, with the sinkerball being his biggest pitch," Guidry said. "If he knows that, they know that. Today, he just wanted to give them a little different look. You try to get out of innings with the least amount of damage, and they scored three innings in a row and they had chances to score a lot, but he didn't give in."

Newcomer Eric Hinske was one of the few Red Sox batters who consistently solved Wang on the day, coming up with three doubles.

"You don't win games if you don't get timely hits, and we didn't come up with them today," Hinske said.

And Wang was the biggest reason why.