(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-08-26 17:33

DETROIT - An aggressive Wang Chien-ming spurred the tired New York Yankees to a 7-2 road win over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.

The Yankees had lost 9-6 to the Tigers on Friday in a game delayed by rain some four hours at the start. Yankee players said they did not get to sleep at their hotel until 5 a.m.

Manager Joe Torre held a brief meeting with the team prior to Saturday's game after players reported late to Comerica Park.

The pitcher from Chinese Taipei threw eight strong innings to raise his record to 15-6. He is 5-0 in six starts against Detroit.

"He was very aggressive," Torre told reporters.

"He had an edge to him, it looked like. He just went after people. His velocity was consistent the whole game and he threw strikes the whole game."

Johnny Damon hit a home run and RBI triple and Melky Cabrera broke open a tight game with a three-run triple in the sixth, sending Jeremy Bonderman to his sixth consecutive loss. The Tigers' right-hander is 0-6 in eight outings since a 10-1 start.

The Yankees stay 6.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the American League East but closed to two games behind the Seattle Mariners in the wild card race.

"We need to minimise bad stuff and the only way we can do that is win ball games," said Torre.

The Tigers have lost 25 of their last 37 and fell 2.5 games behind the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central.