Robinson Cano hit the first pitch he saw into the seats tonight. A misplaced fastball was good for a two-run home run, and with it went any dream of consecutive no-hitters from Johan Santana. The next inning, Cano hit the second pitch he saw, a hanging slider, into the right field seats and the Yanks were out to a 4-0 lead. Nick Swisher followed and he ripped a home run to left, and not wanting to be left out of the festivities, Andruw Jones followed that with a bomb of his own.
It was enough to get the Yankee dugout fired up–especially Mr. Swisher (jeez, settle down, Francis)–not to mention the Yankee fans in the seats. It sure was more than enough for Hiroki Kuroda, who was terrific, throwing seven shutout innings. He allowed just a single base hit and that didn’t come until two out in the sixth.
Kuroda’s night ended on a strange play. Daniel Murphy hit a line drive that caught Kuroda’s foot and shot up in the air to Alex Rodriguez who made the catch to end the seventh. Kuroda had the foot wrapped and was sporting crutches after the game. Perhaps he could miss a start. He had x-rays and they were negative.
Just about everything else for the home team was positive.
Yanks take it, 9-1.
[Photo Credit: Aimeri]
