Wang shuts down Cubs in first win since 09

In the record books Tuesday night will go down as just another win for the Washington Nationals but for 31 year old Chien-Ming Wang it was far from being just another win.

For Chien-Ming Wang the win on Tuesday night was the culmination of a little over 2 years and countless hours worth of hard work and rehab just to make it back to the majors following his 2009 shoulder surgery.

Wang after being  shaky in his first two starts for the Nats looked sharp in holding the Chicago Cubs to just 1 hit and 0 runs in 6 innings. Wang who is primarily a sinker ball pitcher did a great job this time at keeping the ball down on his sinker which was a key difference between Tuesday nights starts and his 2 previous starts this season. In being able to keep his sinker down Wang was able to force the Cubs in to 11 ground ball outs.

When asked of his thoughts on Wang’s start Nationals manager Davey Johnson said “It was very impressive. Eighty pitches for six innings? That’s vintage.”

And impressive it was indeed so much so that I’d even venture as far as saying he looked a little like the Wang of 2006 and 2007 when he had back to back seasons of 19 wins and under a 4.00 era while still pitching for the New York Yankees.

The Nationals offense was held to just 6 hits on the game but put the game away in the top of the 6th on a Mike Morse solo home run (20) and a Jonny Gomes 2 run home run (13) to left field.

Also worth noting from Tuesday nights game is the fact that Ryan Zimmerman extended his hitting streak to 17 games on a 1st inning single.