[新聞] Cano can do: Rookie's blast lifts Yanks

[yadayada (小羊羹)]

Cano can do: Rookie's blast lifts Yanks
Second baseman's two-run shot delivers win for Bombers
By Mark Feinsand / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang helped the Yankees bid farewell
to the Bronx with clutch performances, as the two rookies led New York to an
8-4 win over Toronto in the regular-season finale at Yankee Stadium.

Then, they put on skirts.

Wang and Cano were two of the three rookies in the Yankees' clubhouse (Mike
Vento was the other) to don cheerleading outfits as part of the annual hazing
that accompanies the team's final road trip.

Not that they minded, given the day they had where it counted -- on the
field.

Wang earned his eighth win with seven solid innings, while Cano's two-run
homer in the seventh gave the Yankees a lead they wouldn't surrender.

The win, combined with Boston's victory in Baltimore, left the two teams in a
tie for first place in the American League East at 91-64. Now, with a week to
go, it's a seven-game sprint to the finish.

"We're looking to win every single game, because we can't rely on anybody
else to do what we need to do," said manager Joe Torre. "We need to go out
and win all the games, just like Boston does. When the smoke clears,
hopefully, we'll be standing tall."

The win was the Yankees' 12th in the last 14 games, as New York closed out
its final homestand of the season with a 6-1 record. The Bombers finished the
regular season with a 53-28 record in the Bronx.

The sellout crowd, which lifted the Yankees to an AL-record attendance of
4,090,696 this season, also saluted Bernie Williams by chanting his name
throughout the game. Unless the Yankees reach the postseason, Williams, who
will be a free agent after the season, may have played his last game at
Yankee Stadium on Sunday.

"Being human, it has crossed my mind, but as a team, we have a lot more
things to worry about than my personal future," Williams said. "We have a lot
of very important games to go, and that's where our focus should be right
now."

"It was nice," said Derek Jeter. "But it's not Bernie's last game at Yankee
Stadium."

Staked to an early 1-0 lead, Wang breezed through the early innings, not
allowing a hit through the first four frames. The only baserunner was Frank
Catalanotto, who reached on a throwing error by Jason Giambi in the first but
was tagged out after inadvertently rounding first base.

Toronto got its first hit in the fifth, as Corey Koskie led off with a
double. Two batters later, Eric Hinske drilled the first pitch he saw into
the right-center field stands, giving the Jays a 2-1 lead. Aaron Hill added
an RBI double, boosting the lead to two.

"The first four innings were really good, then it looked like he was
elevating the ball a little," Torre said. "That's where they hurt him."

New York cut the lead to 3-2 on Jeter's RBI single against starter Josh
Towers in the fifth, but Towers came back to strike out A-Rod with runners at
the corners to end the inning.

Towers tossed a 1-2-3 sixth, but after Jorge Posada led off the seventh with
a single, Cano blasted his 14th homer of the season on an 0-1 pitch, putting
the Yankees back in the lead.

"It was a changeup, but I was trying to stay right in the middle," said Cano,
who made a baserunning blunder in the fifth, costing his team a potential
run. "I was so excited for that, because I was trying to come up with a base
hit to put a man on second with no outs."

"He's a good hitter, and he's having a tremendous September," said Toronto
manager John Gibbons. "He could arguably be the Rookie of the Year, and he
should be here for a long time. He's starting to fit in; he's very talented
-- and clutch."

Wang lasted seven innings, allowing three runs on six hits and a walk,
striking out three to improve to 8-4. The Yankees are 3-1 in Wang's four
starts since he returned from the disabled list on Sept. 8.

"He's been doing it every time out," Jeter said. "We missed him when he was
out, and now he's healthy and he's picking up where he left off."

Tom Gordon allowed a hit in the eighth, turning the one-run lead over to
Mariano Rivera with two outs. Rivera walked Vernon Wells to put the go-ahead
run on base, but the closer came back and struck out Koskie for the third
out.

Gary Sheffield drilled a three-run homer, his 31st, as part of a four-run
eighth to make it a five-run game. Rivera earned his 42nd save despite
allowing a run in the ninth.

"We needed to go there and battle," Rivera said. "Wang pitched tremendous and
allowed our hitters to come back, and Cano hit the home run. It's the end of
the season, so we have to give it everything we've got."

Despite their heroics, Wang and Cano were brought back to earth shortly after
leaving the field.

With the Weather Girls' "It's Raining Men" blasting through the speakers of
the clubhouse, Wang and Cano were just a couple of rookies in cheerleading
outfits, complete with shiny silver headbands and sleeveless tops with the
words "Wanger" and "Robbie" over their uniform numbers on the back.

"These guys have been huge for us, no doubt about it," said general manager
Brian Cashman, standing in the middle of the clubhouse with a grin on his
face. "Wang and Cano could have been had in the past, but they can't be had
now."

Mark Feinsand is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the
approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

http://tinyurl.com/94o2f


※ 編輯: yadayada        來自: 140.254.105.134      (09/26 07:58)
推 rosemars:難以想像王穿裙子的樣子...
→ rosemars:我還以為他可以躲過 MLB 這個傳統...
推 yadayada:腿好白...
推 iceman0603:Mo說王投得很好~真是支持他耶
推 AlubaATU:...看不懂
推 tomo1026:對不起  我想到了比司吉...(抖笑