New York Yankees @ Bare Baseball - Baseball MLB Blog

03/11/2006
TAMPA, Fla. -- There's no doubt the recipe for success for the New York Yankees' pitching staff involves a solid outing from the starting pitcher and quick work from closer Mariano Rivera.
That's what the Yankees got on Saturday, with three solid innings from starter Chien-Ming Wang and a 1-2-3 seventh inning -- although in a regular-season game, obviously, it would be the ninth -- from Rivera.
Wang made his second start of the spring, throwing three solid innings after an unimpressive debut.
He said he felt better than during his opener after working on correcting his arm angle. Throwing the ball at a higher angle, Wang mowed through Atlanta's lineup, yielding just one hit while fanning four.
"He was a lot of fun today," catcher Jorge Posada said. "His arm angle was outstanding.
"The results really showed. If he can do that consistently he's really going to have a good year."
Wang gave up three runs on six hits against Toronto his first start, and according to him his sinker was flat. This time his out pitch had more sink.
"His location was better and he had a lot of jump on his fastball." Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "He threw some good sliders, a couple good forkballs. He was outstanding today."
Rivera threw just eight pitches in his third appearance this spring, striking out the first batter he saw and forcing two infield ground outs.
"I felt good today," Rivera said.
Rivera has given up just one hit in three innings this spring, a home run to Detroit's Marcus Thames. He has five strikeouts.
Giambi almost back: Jason Giambi said his sore left calf is improving and that he could see action in a game as soon as Tuesday.
"I ran today," Giambi said. "I ran around and it felt pretty good."
Giambi said he thought he could play Monday, but Torre said since the Yankees are the visiting team against Pittsburgh and the Pirates denied his request for a designated hitter, Giambi should get his first chance to play on Tuesday.
Giambi has missed five games since injuring the calf in the field during a play at first base. He has been receiving treatment on the calf every day and ran on it the first time Friday.
Giambi said the plan is to get him back in a game at designated hitter before he comes back to play first base so that it doesn't get overworked too soon. The challenge, he said, is going to be running out of the batters box.
Around the horn: Bubba Crosby saw action in his first game since injuring his right index finger, playing right field. He doubled in his only at-bat. ... Five players were reassigned: right-hander Philip Hughes, catcher Jason Brown, outfielder Chris Prieto, right-hander Darrell Rasner and infielder Danny Garcia. That leaves 57 players in camp. ... Outfielder Kevin Reese turned 28.

Source: http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/