Cano boosts Yankees' order from No. 9 spot
By PETER ABRAHAM
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: July 4, 2007)
NEW YORK - Joe Torre played a hunch and hit Robinson Cano third on Sunday
against Oakland. He went 0 for 5 and struck out twice, leaving six men
on base.
"We hoped he would be oblivious to where he was hitting, and it just seemed
to affect him because he had terrible at-bats," the manager said. "It's a
dangerous thing in this game, over-thinking."
Torre has gone the other way since, dropping Cano to ninth in the order.
His mind uncluttered and expectations lowered, Cano had two hits on Monday,
and last night belted a two-run home run that helped the Yankees thump the
Minnesota Twins 8-0 before 53,862 at Yankee Stadium.
If the Yankees are to legitimately contend this season, Cano is one of the
underachievers who must return to form. With the season now halfway over,
time is growing short.
Cano hit .342 with 15 homers and 78 RBI last season despite a midseason
hamstring strain that caused him to miss nearly six weeks. He has been a
far lesser player this year, hitting .269 with 35 RBI and a .312 on-base
percentage that attests to his lack of discipline.
But last night was a glimpse of what Cano can give the Yankees. With the
score 1-0 in the fourth inning and a runner on with two outs, he drove a
2-1 pitch from Carlos Silva over the wall in right field.
"You know why it's important? Because it helped us win a game," Cano said.
"It's a different game when you're winning 3-0 instead of 1-0."
It was Cano's fourth home run, his first in 112 at-bats going back to June 1.
He has been working before games in recent days with hitting coach Kevin Long
and bench coach Don Mattingly on keeping his weight back and waiting on
pitches instead of lunging at them.
"I know I have to work on that," Cano said. "I get out ahead of myself,
and even if I hit the ball, it's not going to go far. I frustrate myself
because I know I can do better."
The homer gave Chien-Ming Wang (8-4) some cushion on what was a strange night
for him. He threw seven shutout innings, but walked four and allowed four
hits while throwing only 61 of his 101 pitches for strikes.
"I was lucky," said Wang, who had the persistent blister on his middle
finger pop in the fourth inning. "I never felt OK."
Wang walked three in the fourth inning when he lost control of his fastball,
but escaped as Jorge Posada threw out Jason Bartlett stealing and Cano
turned a double play. A second double play bailed Wang out in the fifth.
(第一個雙殺應該是AROD啟動的！)
"The double plays were very important," Wang said. "I learned a lot in
this game about being a good pitcher."
The Yankees scored five runs in the sixth inning to put the game away
against Silva (6-9).
The first run came on an unusual play, as Posada singled to center and the
ball skipped past Gold Glove center fielder Torii Hunter. Posada hit a
hill as he reached second base, but he made it to third. There was no
rest there, as Silva's second pitch to Hideki Matsui went to the backstop
and Posada raced home.
"That's rough when you have to run that far," Posada said.
Matsui doubled and scored on a single by Bobby Abreu (3 for 3).
Melky Cabrera and Derek Jeter had RBI singles later in the inning.
Jeter is 5 for 10 with four RBI hitting third the last two nights. He is
14 for 29 in that spot this season.
Ahead comfortably, Torre had right-hander Edwar Ramirez make his major-league
debut in the ninth. Twice released by the Angels and a veteran of two
independent leagues, the 26-year-old struck out the side with a nasty
changeup, then hugged Posada.
"I don't think the Angels appreciated what I did," said Ramirez, who
struck out 80 in 43 1/3 innings in the minors. "Now I want to stay here
with the Yankees."
The last Yankee to strike out the side in his debut was Stan Bahnsen in
1966.
Reach Peter Abraham at pabraham@lohud.com and
read his Yankees blog at yankees.lohudblogs.com.
http://tinyurl.com/2gjjvj
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