NEW YORK (REUTERS) — So much for all those worries about David Wells being distracted.
Looking as sharp as ever, Wells pitched a three-hitter and Hideki Matsui delivered a two-run double, sending the New York Yankees over the Minnesota Twins 2-0 Thursday for their fourth-straight victory.
“I’m not really thinking too much out there right now,” Wells said. “I’m just throwing the ball.”
The Yankees improved to 8-1, their best start since posting the same record to open the 1988 season. New York sent the defending AL Central champions to their sixth loss in a row.
Wells pitched for the first time at Yankee Stadium this season, and the first time since he was fined $100,000 by the Yankees for writing his autobiography, “Perfect I’m Not! Boomer on Beer, Brawls, Backaches & Baseball.”
“There were so many things swirling around him this spring,” Yankees manager Joe Torre said. “When he gets challenged, he’s pretty darn good.”
Wells (2-0) was in control the whole way, never permitting a runner past second base in his 12th career shutout and first since last May 16 against Tampa Bay. He walked none, struck out six and twice hit A.J. Pierzynski with pitches.
Wells did not receive a great deal of reaction from the crowd of 29,255 until the final inning. He’s always been a fan favorite in New York, but the chilly conditions kept down the cheers.
“I had some pretty good butterflies working,” he said. “I wanted to get the first one at Yankee Stadium out of the way.”
Wells worked in short sleeves on the 45-degree afternoon, quickly and efficiently throwing just 96 pitches to shut down the low-scoring Twins. He was also fast off the mound, making a nice play on Dustan Mohr’s tapper to open the sixth.
“We’ve seen him before. We’ve seen him when we get no hits, so at least we got a couple,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. Gardenhire was on the Twins’ staff when Wells pitched a perfect game against them at Yankee Stadium in 1998. Wells improved to a 17-6 lifetime record against Minnesota.
Minnesota has only scored a total of 24 runs in nine games this season, and Yankee pitching is partly the reason. New York starters are 8-0 with a 2.12 ERA so far.
“You know good pitching does this, but we can hit better than this,” Gardenhire said. “I think everybody’s struggling to do too much. It’s a little frustrating. We wanted to get off to a good start.”
Matsui and Bernie Williams each had three hits as New York completed a three-game sweep and beat the Twins for the ninth consecutive time. Matsui continued to show he’s much more than just a power hitter.
Rick Reed (0-2) was in trouble for all of four innings before leaving with a strained right groin. He was listed as day-to-day.
“He said he could have stayed out there,” Gardenhire said.
After grounding back to Reed to strand two runners and end the first inning, Matsui came up again in the third with runners on second and third and one out.
Reed appeared as though he was trying to pitch around Matsui, throwing three balls. Then on a 3-1 pitch, the left-handed Matsui neatly went the opposite way with an outside pitch and lined it into the left-field corner for a double.
The Japanese star came back from his lone hitless game of the season and raised his average to .316 with one home run. He has 10 RBI, tied with Alfonso Soriano for the team lead.
“I wasn’t expecting to start off like this,” Matsui said through a translator. “I haven’t been able to adjust yet and hit home runs. What I’m concentrating on right now is to make contact.”
Johan Santana relieved Reed to begin the fifth and shut out the Yankees the rest of the way, striking out eight in four innings. Santana has not allowed a run in nine innings this season.