Wright Blanks Jays As Yanks Move Into Tie for Wild Card

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The New York Sun

When Jaret Wright walked off the mound at Yankee Stadium with an aching right shoulder on April 23, he didn’t know whether his season was over.


He returned triumphantly last night, giving the Yankees his second straight strong start following a layoff of nearly four months.


Wright got out of a bases-loaded jam in the first and went on to allow just four hits in seven sharp innings, pitching the Yankees to a 7-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays that moved New York into a tie for the AL wild-card lead.


In that April start, Wright came out after 5 1/3 innings of a 10-2 loss to Texas and his ERA stood at 9.15.


“There was a lot of doubts whether I’d be able to play again,” he said.


He made it back to the major leagues on August 15, pitching 6 1/3 innings in a 5-2 victory at Tampa Bay. In the two starts since he was activated, he has allowed two runs in 13 1/3 innings, a 1.35 ERA. He joined Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson to give the Yankees three of their original starting pitchers. Al Leiter and Shawn Chacon fill out the rotation for now.


“I think it’s the best our pitching staff has been since I’ve been here, in over a year-and-a-half,” said Alex Rodriguez, who doubled in a run in the eighth to reach 100 RBI for the eighth straight season.


Carl Pavano (shoulder) and Kevin Brown (back) remain sidelined along with fill-in Chien-Ming Wang (shoulder). Johnson, who has a bad back, is winless in four starts since July 26.


“If we’re going to do it, it’s going to be our pitching,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said.


Hideki Matsui drove in three runs for New York, which broke open a close game with a four-run seventh. The $200 million Yankees (68-55) moved within 3 1/2 games of idle Boston (71-55), the AL East leader, and tied Oakland in the wild-card race, less than a percentage point ahead of Cleveland (69-56).


“In our situation, we were just happy to be hanging around,” Torre said. “As badly as we played at times and as frustrating as some streaks have been, we always managed to stay close enough to make sure that if we did go into a little hot streak, we could do something. And right now, we control our own destiny. That’s really all you want. We have our future in our hands. Obviously, if we don’t get the job done, it means we weren’t good enough.”


Wright (4-2) walked the bases loaded in the first but retired Gregg Zaun on an inning-ending flyout. He threw 46 pitches over the first two innings but needed just 53 to get through the next five before Alan Embree, Tanyon Sturtze, and Scott Proctor finished the five-hitter.


“The first inning was scary,” Wright said. “I felt a little out of synch early.”


Wright got help when second baseman Robinson Cano threw out Shea Hillenbrand at the plate in the fourth on Zaun’s grounder with the infield in. With runners at the corners in the fifth, Frank Catalanotto grounded into an inning-ending double play.


Wright was pleased to have started the homestand with a win.


“Coming back home here after the way I pitched and getting hurt and whatnot, I think it was a big start for me,” he said. “I was excited to pitch again here.”


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