NEW YORK, 14 May 2006 — Taiwan’s Chien-Ming Wang pitched eight shutout innings to lift the New York Yankees back into first place in the American League with a 2-0 win over the Oakland Athletics at Yankee Stadium on Friday.

Wang (3-1) was helped out by four double plays but posted his best career start, allowing just three hits with two walks and no strikeouts, to get the better of veteran Barry Zito.

“When you looked at the match-up, Wang against Zito, it didn’t seem like it favored us,” New York manager Joe Torre told reporters.

Mariano Rivera came on in the ninth and allowed a hit and a walk but still managed to preserve the shutout and pick up his seventh save. The Yankees got all the offense they needed on a solo home run by Alex Rodriguez in the sixth and another solo blast by Bernie Williams in the eighth.

New York, playing its first game since outfielder Hideki Matsui broke his wrist sliding to try and make a catch in the outfield Thursday night, managed eight hits off Zito and Randy Keisler. Zito (2-3) allowed one run on five hits with four walks and four strikeouts over his six innings, before Keisler finished up and allowed the homer to Williams and one other hit over his two innings. Jorge Posada had two hits for the Yankees, who improved to 20-13 and moved percentage points ahead of the Boston Red Sox for first place in the AL East with the victory.

Oakland slipped one game under .500 at 17-18 and remain in second place in the AL West behind the Texas Rangers.

In Boston, Kameron Loe pitched five shutout innings and was credited with his first career shutout as the Texas Rangers blanked the Red Sox 6-0 in a rain-shortened game.

Loe (2-3) allowed five hits and struck out four and walked one. With Texas leading 2-0, heavy rain hit Fenway Park in the bottom of the sixth and cancelled the rest of the game, but Loe will get credit for the shutout.

Hank Blalock homered in the second and had a run-scoring single in the third, while Gary Matthews Jr., drove in three runs and also had a pair of hits for Texas. Matt Clement (3-3) allowed four runs on six hits over five innings and took the loss for Boston.

Hamels Shines on Debut for In-Form Phillies

Rookie Cole Hamels pitched five shutout innings on his major league debut to lead the streaking Philadelphia Phillies to an 8-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds at the Great American Ball Park on Friday. The 22-year-old Hamels allowed just one hit while striking out seven and walking five, but it was Ryan Madson, one of five relievers, who was lucky to get the credit for Philadelphia’s 11th win in 12 games.

Hamels left the game with a 2-0 lead after five innings and Madson still managed to pick up the victory despite allowing two runs to score on two hits in a single inning of work.

Madson (4-1) allowed solo home runs to Austin Kearns and Edwin Encarnacion in the bottom of the sixth, the only inning he pitched, to tie the game at 2-2.

However, Chase Utley’s RBI single in the top of the seventh put the Phillies ahead for good and gave Madson the decision. Four more relievers allowed just one hit the rest of the way, including Tom Gordon, who got the last two outs in the ninth for his 11th save.

Ryan Howard hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to put the Phillies ahead, and Shane Victorino added a two-run homer, his first of the season, in the ninth.

Victorino wound up going 4-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Pat Burrell and David Bell each added a pair of hits for the Phillies, who had 12 hits off five Reds pitchers.

Elizardo Ramirez (1-3) took the loss, allowing three runs — two earned — on seven hits over six-plus innings, striking out seven and walking three.

Felipe Lopez had two hits and force in a run with a bases-loaded walk in the ninth and Ken Griffey Jr’s run-scoring grounder in the ninth brought home the final Cincinnati run.

Following the defeat, Cincinnati (23-13) dropped into a tie for first place with St. Louis in the Central Division, while Philadelphia (20-15) moved to within two games of the New York Mets in the NL East.

In St. Louis, Jim Edmonds homered and drove in three runs as the Cards grabbed a share of first place in the NL Central with the Reds by beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3.

David Eckstein had two hits and Albert Pujols drove in his major-league leading 44th run for the Cardinals. Mark Mulder (4-1) went six innings for the win, allowing two runs on six hits with six strikeouts and two walks, before Jason Isringhausen pitched the ninth for his 11th save. Juan Cruz (1-1) allowed five runs on seven hits over five innings and took the loss. He struck out three and walked three.

Eric Byrnes had two hits, including a two-run homer, and Conor Jackson also had two hits for the D-Backs.