May 5 FOX Preview..."Ailing starters battle on FOX"

By Caleb Breakey / MLB.com


NEW YORK -- What's typically a minor annoyance became a serious matter for the Yankees on Sunday against Boston. A group of pinstripes gathered on the mound to look. Chien-Ming Wang's right middle fingernail had cracked horizontally while pitching against the Red Sox.

"If it pops up again, we have to go get him," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "There is no danger -- let's put it that way -- in an injury. Unless you consider this an injury, which it is, but it's something that's not threatening."

That brings us to Saturday, as FOX showcases the Yankees and the Mariners at Yankee Stadium with a start time of 3:55 p.m. ET.

Wang is one of the last pinstriped pitchers standing in a Yankees rotation riddled by injuries. He'll get the start against right-hander Jeff Weaver.
Before the fingernail problem, Wang suffered a hamstring injury in Spring Training and started the season on the disabled list. So far, he hasn't regained the form that won him 19 games last year, with several of his pitches hanging up in the strike zone.

The Mariners also have dealt with their share of rotation troubles. Weaver takes a 0-4 record to the mound with an 18.26 ERA. But the 30-year-old has had success in his career at the ballpark in the Bronx, owning a lifetime 7-6 record at Yankee Stadium. And nobody should forget

Weaver's performance in the World Series in 2006, when he earned a ring with the Cardinals.
As Mariners manager Mike Hargrove has said of the 6-foot-5 right-hander, the right stuff is in his arm. Weaver just hasn't found it this season. He needs a strong start on Saturday's national stage to stay in the Mariners' rotation.

The Yankees come into the game with a 12-14 record, but the Mariners see the fluke in those numbers.

"You take it for what it's worth," said Mariners bench coach John McLaren. "There is still a long way to go, and we know that. We also know who the Yankees are and what they're capable of doing."

None of the Mariners have had more than 14 career at-bats against Wang, but first baseman Richie Sexson has hit the right-hander consistently, posting a .400 average with a double in 10 trips to the plate.

Utility man Willie Bloomquist said playing the Yankees in the historic ballpark at the corner of 161st Street and River Avenue promises something special.

"Just because it's Yankee Stadium," Bloomquist said, "The aura, the mystique."