MLB

HE’S WIN-MING

OAKLAND – Joe Girardi wanted to see one thing from Chien-Ming Wang last night against the A’s here.

“Down in the zone,” Girardi said before Wang attempted to win a game for the first time in more than a month.

Despite allowing the leadoff batter to reach base in seven of the eight innings he started, Wang kept enough balls below the belt to turn back the A’s, 3-1.

Of the 22 outs Wang recorded, 15 came on the ground, and he worked around trouble by inducing four double plays.

“Sometimes you have a feeling,” Girardi said after the game. “His sinker was great. He got four double plays – that’s the type of pitcher he is when he is on.”

Wang, who is 7-2, won for the first time since May 2. In 71/3 innings, he allowed a run and seven hits.

The only inning he retired the leadoff batter was the eighth, and then Wang was replaced by Jose Veras, who walked two before getting Mark Ellis to strand two runners with a grounder to the right side.

The victory was the 33-32 Yankees’ fifth in seven games and allowed them to pick up ground on the AL East-leading Red Sox, who are six lengths in front of their blood rivals.

Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi delivered back-to-back RBI singles in the first off loser Dana Eveland (4-5). Melky Cabrera, who lined out hard in the second and fourth, homered off Keith Foulke in the ninth. It was Cabrera’s seventh homer of the year and staked Mariano Rivera to a two-run, ninth-inning cushion.

Rivera worked his fourth straight game and recorded the final three outs for his 17th save.

Asked about using Rivera four straight days, Girardi said, “I looked at his pitch counts. They were seven, 10, 13. It wasn’t like he was taxed in those games.”

Derek Jeter went 0-for-4 and stopped a 17-game hitting streak at McAfee Coliseum.

Having hit into double plays in the previous two innings and three in the game, A’s manager Bob Geren started Ellis with Jack Cust at the plate. The move paid off when Cust hit a chopper over the mound that Jeter fielded and threw to first.

A walk to Travis Buck and Carlos Gonzalez’s single loaded the bases for Kurt Suzuki and he hit a 1-1 pitch at Rodriguez to start a 5-4-3 double play that kept the Yankees ahead, 2-1.

In six innings, Eveland struggled with command – six walks – but only allowed two runs; both in the first. He gave up four hits and fanned three.

Despite not recording an out on the ground in the opening inning, Wang produced 12 groundball outs in the first six innings.

When Bobby Crosby opened the sixth with a single it was the sixth straight frame the A’s put their leadoff man on base. And for the second consecutive inning Wang responded by feeding the next hitter, Cust, a ground ball double play ball.

You don’t have to look past the Yankees’ sixth for proof that Giambi’s body is feeling frisky. After drawing a leadoff walk Giambi tagged on Jorge Posada’s fly to deep right and made second easily when Buck’s throw was soft. Unfortunately for the Yankees, Wilson Betemit fouled out and Robinson Cano lined out to strand Giambi at second.

Wang gave up a run only in the fourth, and it was tainted by first baseman Betemit’s inability to field Cust’s one-hopper to start the frame. Cust went to second on Eric Chavez’ chopper to Betemit and scored when Ellis doubled to left-center.

george.king@nypost.com