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08/19/2006 7:26 PM ET
Damon torments former squad
Yankees leadoff man has nine hits, eight RBIs in series
By Mike Petraglia / Special to MLB.com
BOSTON -- Much like his daily effect on the Yankees lineup, Johnny Damon has
served as New York's biggest catalyst in the weekend assault on Boston
pitching.
The former Red Sox star has been relentless in the first three games -- all
Yankees wins -- racking up nine hits, driving in eight runs and scoring five
times from the leadoff spot in New York's 13-5 win at Fenway Park.
Like his first at-bat in the first game Friday when he tripled, Damon opened
Saturday's game with a bang, doubling to right-center field off Red Sox
starter Josh Beckett. In the next inning, he doubled again, this time driving
in Melky Cabrera with the second run of the inning. Damon would cap off his
big day with his third double in the decisive five-run sixth.
But Damon was quick to deflect credit for some of his success to the
opportunity he is getting in a potent lineup.
"Coming into this season, we talked about how difficult [batters] one through
nine would be on opposing pitchers," Damon said. "When you have a guy like
Bernie Williams in the eighth spot and a guy like Melky Cabrera in the ninth
spot, it's pretty special. Those guys can be number two and three hitters on
a lot of teams. That puts into perspective how good our lineup is."
Through three games, Damon is hitting an even .500 (9-for-18) with three
doubles, a triple, two homers and eight RBIs while scoring five times.
Perhaps most impressively, he has put the struggles of his first return to
Boston in May behind him, batting .472 (17-for-36) with 12 RBIs in his last
eight games against the Red Sox, after collecting just one hit in his first
16 at-bats.
While Damon's bat has added up to big numbers at the top of the order in the
first three games, his glove has taken away momentum from Red Sox batters.
There was no bigger example of this than his sliding grab of Alex Gonzalez's
liner with runners on second and third and one out in the sixth inning of
Friday's first game.
The play resulted in a sacrifice fly, but had Damon, who patrolled Fenway's
center field from 2002-05, not caught the ball, the Red Sox would have tied
the game and possibly changed the momentum of the contest.
Damon's reward Saturday was a day off from the field as he was the club's
designated hitter, giving him more time to focus on his offense.
"Jason [Giambi] was key today because he was able to play first base and
enable us to DH Johnny," skipper Joe Torre explained. "They were sort of
sparring back-and-forth. We were able to keep Johnny in the leadoff spot and
that gave us some momentum."
This weekend's production from the Yankees leadoff hitter hardly comes as a
shock to those in the other dugout who played with him for the last several
years.
"That's not a surprise. That's all he did when he was here, I'm not
surprised," David Ortiz said.
And Damon's performance this weekend under pressure should lead the Yankees
to believe that the trend is going to continue into October.
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