Wang gets first major-league win

[BuckFoston]

NEW YORK (AP) -- Tino Martinez is providing the offense that Jason Giambi isn't.

Martinez homered for the fourth consecutive game, a two-run drive that sent the suddenly streaking New York Yankees to a 7-4 win over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night.

Chien-Ming Wang got his first major league victory as New York overcame a two-run deficit and extended a regular-season winning streak to four for the first time since September.

Aaron Sele (2-4) didn't make it out of the third inning, and the Mariners lost for the ninth time in 10 games.

Wang (1-1), a right-hander from Taiwan starting because Jaret Wright is on the disabled list, allowed runs in each of the first two innings but only two hits after that.

He became the fifth straight Yankees starter to allow three runs or fewer, giving up three runs and four hits in 7 1/3 innings. The crowd of 39,780 gave him a standing ovation when he was taken out.

Bret Boone hit a two-run double in the eighth off Tom Gordon, giving him 1,001 RBI, and Mariano Rivera pitched the ninth for his fifth save in seven chances.

Before the game, Yankees manager Joe Torre and general manager Brian Cashman met with Giambi, whose average is down to .195 following an 0-for-15 slide. The pair asked Giambi whether he would consider accepting a minor league assignment.

Martinez, back with the Yankees for the first time since 2001, has taken over at first base in Giambi's absence and already has eight homers and 18 RBI. A fan favorite, he was given a curtain call after his home run in the five-run third put New York ahead 4-2.

"It's a certain sense of security having him here, because he's been here before, the fact that he had a great deal of success here," Torre said before the game.

Martinez, who agreed to a $3 million, one-year contract on Dec. 31, helped the Yankees win four World Series titles from 1996-2000. No Yankee had homered in four straight games since Martinez did it from June 27 to July 1, 2001.

"I was on vacation when the deal was made," Torre said. "I made the call to him in Florida, I could tell when he picked up the phone how excited he was."

Sele dropped to 6-11 against the Yankees, giving up seven runs -- six earned -- and eight hits in 2 2/3 innings.

Ichiro Suzuki led off the game with his third triple of the season and scored on Randy Winn's grounder. Wilson Valdez's RBI single in the second put the Mariners ahead 2-0.

John Flaherty, 8-for-16 against Sele in his career, hit an RBI single in the second, and Robinson Cano followed with a sacrifice fly.

Martinez, who doubled in the second, homered in the third for a 4-2 lead. Flaherty hit a run-scoring double and scored on a single by Cano, which stopped an 0-for-19 slide. New York got another run when Derek Jeter hit an infield single, Cano took a wide turn at second and third baseman Adrian Beltre threw the ball into the outfield for an error.

Game notes
Suzuki robbed Hideki Matsui of an extra-base hit with a lunging grab in right-center field in the third, and center fielder Jeremy Reed prevented a double by Alex Rodriguez, the next batter, with a diving catch in right-center. ... The Yankees are on their longest regular-season winning streak since taking five in a row from Sept. 5-9. ... Matsui went 0-for-5 and is homerless in 113 at-bats, a career high.http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=250510110

[BuckFoston]

I was really suprised to see Wang pitch like this. His first appearnce he got roped. And then he bounced and shook it off and pitched great. And Tino is playing amazig. I think 6 of his 8 hits are Home Runs. Keep it up Tino!

[Porter]

Buck: Im not suprised that Wang pitched this good for we made Paul Byrd look like god earlier this season. Not to mention such greats as John Lackey and Cliff Lee as well (Lee was stuggling when he almost NO-HIT us).

[joek]

Every dog has his day, and over the past 50 seasons I have seen some great pitchers get shelled, including HOFers.

[RLA68]

This is what we needed. A minor leaguer to give something we never expected. We can possibly dump Brown or Wright and get some solid starts out of Wang.

Same goes for Tino. Never expected him to tear it up. We can bench Giambi.