Wilson muzzles, finally beats Yankees

It was a credit to Los Angeles Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson that Saturday turned into one of those rare Yankee Stadium days when the Bronx is yearning.

One measly Yankees run. Only six hits, all singles, all during Wilson's six proficient innings of work. Ten left on base. A 7-1 loss in the house where the Yankees, in the first three seasons at the new stadium, compiled the best home winning percentage (161-82, .663) in the major leagues.

"I really like pitching here," said Wilson, 31, a lefthander who hadn't beaten the Yankees in 21 career appearances and three previous decisions. "It's a good energy and, obviously, one of the best teams in baseball, so when you're going against those guys, you have to be at your best. Tried to raise my level up to as good as they are."

Almost as quickly as the Yankees made their initial charge -- Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher opened the first inning with back-to-back singles -- Wilson pulled up the drawbridge and bolted the gates. He struck out Robinson Cano, induced Alex Rodriguez to hit into a forceout and got Mark Teixeira to ground out.

By the time the Yankees mounted their next threat, as Teixeira singled with one out and Curtis Granderson walked in the fourth, Los Angeles already was ahead 6-0. Wilson promptly threw out Andruw Jones on a nubber in front of the plate and retired Russell Martin on a fly ball to right.

Wilson had spent the previous seven seasons with the Texas Rangers, evolving from a closer and a setup reliever into a starting pitcher in 2009. And when the Angels signed him to a five-year, $77.5-million contract during the offseason, Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia soon discovered that "when you talk to C.J., it's like he has so many outside interests, you don't know where to start."

Wilson is a Taoist, considers his lifestyle to be "straight edge" and is taken with politics and race car driving.

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"He has a lot of things that go through his mind," Scioscia said. "But when he's on the mound, he's really focused and he competes well. That's what he did the last couple years in Texas and what he's done in the first couple of starts for us" -- a 2-0 record and tiny 1.38 ERA.

The Yankees had two on and none out in the fifth, but Wilson -- facing Swisher and aware that he "always hits the ball hard on me" -- threw a "high seamer I had been saving in the back of my head" that resulted in a harmless fly ball. Though Cano followed with an RBI single, Wilson got Rodriguez on a grounder and Teixeira lined out to Albert Pujols.

"In a game when you have only two strikeouts" -- Wilson also allowed only two walks -- "you have to count on your defense," he said. "You just can't take anybody lightly. Especially when you've got, like, 1,400 career home runs in the lineup like they do."