The Yankees beat the Astros 13-0 yesterday, but there was bad news on the injury front:
HOUSTON — The Yankees’ season changed irreversibly on Sunday. Chien-Ming Wang’s season is in jeopardy with a serious injury to his right foot, and C. C. Sabathia instantly became a very important name in the Yankees’ universe.
Wang staggered to the plate in the sixth inning with the fifth run of a 13-0 rout of the Houston Astros. He did not speak to reporters, but he told others that he felt a pop in his foot while rounding third base, a strong sign of ligament damage that could sideline him for months, if not the rest of the season.
“That’s a manager’s worst nightmare,” Joe Girardi said. “Pitchers on the basepaths.”
The Yankees called the injury a sprained right foot, and they will hope for the best until Wang has a magnetic resonance imaging test in New York on Monday. But the early signs are grim.
The injury is to the top of Wang’s foot, the same general area that reliever Brian Bruney injured when he tripped while covering first base in April. Bruney was found to have a Lisfranc injury and is expected to miss a minimum of three months.
Wang has symptoms of the same injury, including swelling and the inability to bear weight on the foot; he left Minute Maid Park on crutches, in a soft cast. Bruney’s injury was in the middle of the foot, and Wang’s is believed to be in the webbing of his toes, between his big toe and second toe.
“I feel sore,” Wang said in a statement to the Yankees’ media relations director, Jason Zillo. “The doctor says I have to go to get an M.R.I. tomorrow. Of course I’m disappointed.”
Peter Abraham has additional details on what could be a season-ending injury for Wang:
HOUSTON - Chien-Ming Wang grimaced in pain as he settled into a seat on the back of a golf cart parked at the door of the visitors’ clubhouse at Minute Maid Park late yesterday afternoon.
His right foot was wrapped with an elastic bandage, the swelling such that he couldn’t wear a shoe. He carried only a pair of crutches.
“It hurts a lot,” Wang said.
Asked whether his injury was serious, Wang nodded his head.
“Maybe,” he said. “I’ll know tomorrow.”
With that, the cart sped off, taking Wang to the team bus and perhaps to the disabled list for the rest of the season.
That the Yankees beat the Houston Astros 13-0 was nearly an afterthought in the wake of Wang injuring his foot while running the bases in the sixth inning.
The right-hander from Taiwan is 46-15 since the start of the 2006 season, including 8-2 this year. His loss for any extended period of time would severely hamper the team’s chances of making the playoffs.
Outside of Mike Mussina, who is 10-4 so far this season, Wang has been the ace of the pitching staff. Without him, and without acquiring a solid replacement, this season may be beyond recovery.
