Less than one week removed from rookie sensation Phil Hughes’ no-hit bid, Chien-Ming Wang flirted with perfection into the eighth inning at Yankees Stadium. After retiring 22 straight batters, Wang’s perfect game, no-hitter, and shutout bid came to end with one swing of the bat from Ben Broussard, who hit a hanging changeup for a homerun. The unflappable Wang continued the inning amid a standing ovation to get the final two outs, pitching through the eighth to deliver the win in the longest performance by a Yankees starter this season.

Wang’s stellar performance was just the music the Yankees needed to hear after coming off an embarrassing loss to the Mariners in which Yankees pitching surrendered 15 runs. Nearly unhittable, Wang finished with a line reading 8 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K for his first win of the season. Although his bid for the fourth perfect game in club history failed, the performance did provide a much needed lift to the struggling rotation. But as big a lift as it was, all eyes were speculating how the often unnerved hurler would handle the emotions of such a performance. Cool, calm, collected? Not chance, the fans wouldn’t allow it. Under the bright lights of the New York spotlight its hard to imagine anyone could deliver as much as Wang has early in his career but make no mistake, underneath the cool calm and collected exterior, perfect game or not, I guarantee he will not disappoint the fans of the future.

(5 votes, average: 4.8 out of 5)

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