Wang went seven innings and picked up a win in his next outing.

"I've come to learn that nothing really fazes him," Guidry said. "I don't know if it's that he's not caught up in the realm of where he's at, what all this stuff means. He just goes out and pitches and tries to do the best job he can."

Wang (14-11, 4.01 ERA) leads the Yankees with 12 starts of at least seven innings and averages near 6 2/3 innings per start. Wang is eighth in the Major Leagues entering Thursday's action in innings pitched in 21 starts.

Asked if he has been pleased with his success, Wang shook his hand as if to say, "So-so."

"Maybe lucky?" he said with a bashful grin. "I want better, better, better."

Catcher Jorge Posada says without hesitation that Wang has the best stuff in the Yankees' rotation. Guidry feels Wang could be an ace for the Yankees, if not another team, in a couple years.

While Wang can throw as hard as Randy Johnson, he averages fewer than three strikeouts per nine innings. Guidry said Wang could blow away opponents with a mid-90s fastball if he wanted to, but Wang would rather throw his devastating sinker.

"That's his bread-and-butter pitch," Guidry said. "It's like a bowling bowl. When you watch guys hit it, it doesn't go anywhere."

Wang learned the sinker when he attended the Taipei College of Physical Education in Taiwan. But it's not the groundball pitch that has made Wang seem like a steady veteran in just his sophomore season.

"I just think the Asian guys who come over here are so well schooled," Bowa said, also using Hideki Matsui as evidence. "Their work ethic is second to none. They've just been taught all along the way how way you play the game. You respect the game."

That was never more evident in Wang's next to last start against the Mariners. Wang didn't have his best stuff and was constantly in trouble. Three Alex Rodriguez errors behind him didn't help.

But Wang never lost his composure and allowed just two earned runs in seven innings to pick up the win.

Asked about the errors after the game, Wang simply said, "Nobody's perfect."

It's as if Wang has been in the league for years. Even before Wang made his Major League debut in April 2005, manager Joe Torre said he was pleased with flashes of veteran poise from the pitcher. Now Torre counts on Wang to give the bullpen a rest every fifth day.

"We rely on him," Torre said. "When you put him in the company of Randy and Moose, that's a pretty good neighborhood. He's earned that spot. Unfortunately [because he's so young] we expect him to do well all the time."

But despite his success, Wang remains a pitcher not too many teams know about.

Mariners batting coach Jeff Pentland hadn't heard much about Wang -- other than that he had a good sinker -- before facing him on July 17. After spending a couple hours of watching him on tape, Pentland compared Wang to Roy Halladay, the Blue Jays' former Cy Young winner.

"I'm sure he could care less if anybody knows who he was," Phillips said.

That's just the way Wang is.