Though there were problems during Chien- Ming Wang’s first appearance for the Yankees in more than a month, neither the right- hander nor pitching coach Dave Ei land complained too much.
Wang had an eventful 24 hours, from Thursday to last night, starting from turning around on his trip to Paw tucket, R.I., for a scheduled Triple-A start and ending with his first relief outing in nearly three years. Wang came off the disabled list and pitched the seventh, eighth and ninth innings against the Phillies, allowing two runs in three innings in the Yankees’ 7-3 loss at the Stadium.
“I feel better than the beginning of the season,” Wang said.
Eiland said there were “flashes of the old Chien-Ming Wang” and praised his velocity (94 mph) and sinker.
“We’ve still got work to do but it was encouraging,” Eiland said. “He left a couple up and they got hit.”
Wang surrendered Raul Ibanez’s mammoth solo homer, and six of the first 10 batters Wang faced got hits. He also walked one and had just a 29-22 strike-ball ratio.
Wang also got an inning-ending double play in the eighth, then issued just a walk in the ninth.
“We thought it was progress,” manager Joe Girardi said. “We saw some good stuff tonight. His arm strength is back and his sinker is exploding.”
Wang said he still had some work to do, particularly on his control.
Girardi said Wang is on standby if Joba Chamberlain, who took a liner off his right leg Thursday, can’t make his next start, scheduled for Tuesday. Chamberlain said he was confident he’d be available, so it’s unclear when Wang might rejoin the rotation.