Chien Ming Wang

NEW YORK -- Craig Monroe hit a three-run homer off Scott Proctor with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Detroit Tigers avoided a doubleheader sweep by rallying past the Yankees, 5-3, last night. Chien-Ming Wang tied Toronto's Roy Halladay for the major league lead with his 16th win in the day game, combining on a four-hitter in a 2-0 Yankees victory. New York led, 3-2, in the nightcap when Proctor (5-4), trying for his first career save, walked Brandon Inge with one out in the ninth and Curtis Granderson with two outs.

It took a lot longer than he wanted, but now Adam LaRoche can stop bugging Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson to write his name in the lineup. "I'm sure he was getting sick of hearing it from me," LaRoche said. "He finally said, 'I've got to put him out there and shut him up. "' LaRoche, who has been bothered by ankle and shoulder injuries, delivered an RBI single in his first at-bat of the spring and also played solid defense at first base as a Nationals split squad defeated the New York Mets 8-2 Saturday.

NEW YORK -- Chien-Ming Wang pitched eight more shutout innings to win his fifth straight start, and Alex Rodriguez got two key hits in a six-run sixth that broke open the Yankees' 7-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays last night. Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada homered for the AL East-leading Yankees, who won for the seventh time in eight games and improved to 10-1-1 in their last 12 series. Bobby Abreu singled and doubled for his first two hits with New York, and fellow newcomer Craig Wilson added a pair of singles in his Yankees debut.

David Robertson limped out of the Yankees clubhouse in Tampa, holding a pair of crutches, his right foot in an oversized black boot. He sprained a foot when he stumbled on stairs while moving empty boxes at his home, and the team sounded worried there might be a significant injury to the All-Star reliever. Instead of making his second spring training appearance, Robertson made two trips to a hospital for X-rays, an MRI and CT scan. "The initial tests that he took gave us some cause for concern," manager Joe Girardi said after Thursday's 6-1 loss to Toronto.

With Chien-Ming Wang headed to the disabled list, Carl Pavano could end up being the Yankees' Opening Day starter. Wang, a 19-game winner last year and runner-up for the American League Cy Young Award, will begin the season on the DL with a right hamstring injury. He is expected to be sidelined at least a month. Andy Pettitte has been bothered by back spasms and the Yankees don't want to rearrange Mike Mussina's schedule late in spring training, so the oft-injured Pavano appears to be the most likely candidate to pitch April 2 against the Devil Rays at Yankee Stadium.

NEW YORK -- Melky Cabrera put one into the seats -- behind the dugout, that is. Yep, the New York Yankees are doing just fine without any homer help from Alex Rodriguez. Cabrera hit a bizarre two-run double and Robinson Cano homered, leading Chien-Ming Wang and the Yankees over the Kansas City Royals, 7-1, last night. Cabrera matched a season high with three hits and Cano went 2 for 3 to increase his average over the last 20 games to .462, with five homers and 20 RBIs. "It's the energy level, too," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

Chien-Ming Wang won back-to-back starts for the first time in three years and Michael Morse and Ryan Zimmerman homered to lift the Washington Nationals to a 6-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night. Wang (2-2) allowed four runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings, his longest outing since a stint of 7 1-3 innings on June 10, 2008, that began his previous consecutive wins run. Morse homered into the right-field seats in the third inning for his 21st shot this season.

NEW YORK - Alex Rodriguez grimaced in pain after rolling his right ankle in a collision at third base. Chien-Ming Wang walked off the mound gingerly with a stiff lower back. Even blowouts are tense for the New York Yankees these days. "It was a little scary," Rodriguez said last night after New York beat Seattle, 12-3, and boosted its American League wild-card lead to two games over the Mariners and 3 1/2 over Detroit. Wang smothered Seattle to get his 17th win and tie Josh Beckett of the Red Sox for the major league lead.

NEW YORK - Cliff Lee knows he probably won't win all of his starts this season. That doesn't mean he isn't going to try. Lee threw seven sharp innings last night to beat Chien-Ming Wang in a matchup of unbeaten starters, leading the Cleveland Indians to a 3-0 victory over the New York Yankees. "I've got to focus on this next outing and if I do that and continue to do that, things should go the way they have gone," Lee said. "Obviously, I can't expect to put up zeros every single time but it's my job to put up as many as I can and get deep into the game and give the team...

It took a lot longer than he wanted, but now Adam LaRoche can stop bugging Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson to write his name in the lineup. "I'm sure he was getting sick of hearing it from me," LaRoche said. "He finally said, 'I've got to put him out there and shut him up. "' LaRoche, who has been bothered by ankle and shoulder injuries, delivered an RBI single in his first at-bat of the spring and also played solid defense at first base as a Nationals split squad defeated the New York Mets 8-2 Saturday.

Nationals right-hander Stephen Strasburg will be on an innings limit next season as he continues his comeback from reconstructive surgery on his pitching elbow. "I've already calculated it, semi-calculated it, in my mind with our medical staff and our pitching people," general manager Mike Rizzo said Sunday. "We've already discussed it. " Rizzo didn't say what Strasburg's limit will be. "We're still at the beginning of that process. We want to find out how he feels at the end of the season and where he's at. We'll calculate it and see what's a comfortable amount for...

Florida Marlins manager Jack McKeon was decidedly disappointed in his players' inability to draw a walk. After all, in the course of 22 innings over two games against the Washington Nationals, including Florida's 4-3 loss Sunday, the Marlins drew exactly zero free passes. "You don't get paid to take a walk. Walks help you win. There's a lot of cases where that's the key to winning ballgames. Bases on balls. We walk them, what happens? We get beat. Our guys are allergic to taking walks," McKeon said.

Chien-Ming Wang won back-to-back starts for the first time in three years and Michael Morse and Ryan Zimmerman homered to lift the Washington Nationals to a 6-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night. Wang (2-2) allowed four runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings, his longest outing since a stint of 7 1-3 innings on June 10, 2008, that began his previous consecutive wins run. Morse homered into the right-field seats in the third inning for his 21st shot this season.

Even with a seven-game winning streak over for the Chicago Cubs, Starlin Castro continues to show different facets of his offensive game. Castro scored the lone run for the Cubs with his sixth home run in the eighth inning, but Washington starter Chien-Ming Wang allowed one hit over six scoreless frames to lead the Nationals to a 3-1 win Tuesday night. Castro has homered in consecutive games and has scored a run in 10 straight. The 21-year-old shortstop is hitting .463 with three home runs during a nine-game hitting streak.

The Washington Nationals gave up an off day to avoid playing a doubleheader. After rain postponed Monday night's game between the Chicago Cubs and the Nationals, the players agreed to make up the game on Thursday afternoon, as opposed to playing a doubleheader on Tuesday. "We were going to have a day off on Thursday. But we weren't going to travel until 3 p.m., so we'll probably get to Philly about the same time we would have normally," said Nationals manager Davey Johnson.

Sergio Mitre earned his first win in two years, Robinson Cano hit a two-run homer, and the surging Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-4, last night in New York for their fifth straight victory. Alex Rodriguez also had a key two-run single for an efficient New York squad, which made the most of just six hits. The Yankees are a major league-best 43-22 since Rodriguez came off the disabled list May 8 following hip surgery. The Yankees (56-37) improved to a season-best 19 games over .500 and took a one-game lead in the AL East over the Red Sox, which lost to Texas.

Chien-Ming Wang gave up a home run on his first pitch before settling down and tossing 6 2/3 effective innings, and the Yankees extended their winning streak to six games with a 5-4 victory over the Cleveland Indians last night in New York. Wang (6-3) took the mound after a 20-minute rain delay, and saw his first delivery smashed over the right-field fence by Grady Sizemore. He fell behind, 2-0, when Aaron Boone hit an RBI single in the second, but was helped out by three double plays and won for the third time in five starts.

Chien-Ming Wang thrived in his major league debut and Tony Womack singled in the winning run in the ninth inning to help the New York Yankees end a sorry April on a positive note. The Yankees snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in the rain at the Stadium, leaving them at 10-14 -- their first losing April since 1991. Alex Rodriguez hit a solo homer, his major league-leading ninth of the season and fifth of the week, then walked on four pitches from Vinnie Chulk (0-1)

Derek Jeter had four hits including a go-ahead two-run homer, Hideki Matsui homered and drove in four runs, and the Yankees rallied from a four-run hole to beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 10-8, yesterday in New York. It was New York’s fifth straight win over the Blue Jays, whose five-run fourth inning gave them an 8-4 lead that never appeared safe with balls were again flying out of Yankee Stadium. There were four homers - all of them to right field - raising the total to 139 at the new ballpark midway through the season.

Jorge Posada hit a walkoff RBI single in the 12th inning to give the Yankees a 6-5 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays yesterday in New York. The Yankees have won nine of 10 to move a season-best 14 games above .500 and pull within a game of the AL East-leading Red Sox. Brett Tomko (1-2) pitched a scoreless inning for the win. Mark Teixeira got the winning rally started with a liner that caromed off the first base bag and over Lyle Overbay for a double. Alex Rodriguez received his second consecutive intentional walk before Teixeira was cut down at third on Robinson Cano’s sacrifice...