Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Yankees.com: Cano’s four-hit night propels Yanks
NEW YORK—Robinson Cano broke out by tying a career high with four hits, including a seventh-inning double that brought around the go-ahead run, as the Yankees defeated the Nationals, 5-3, on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.
New York’s Major League-leading 22nd come-from-behind victory was spurred by a rally against former Yankees reliever Ron Villone. Mark Teixeira’s booming RBI double tied the game and Cano gave the Yankees the lead with a double over the head of center fielder Elijah Dukes before being thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.
The late support made a winner of left-hander CC Sabathia, who was hit hard for only one mistake—a three-run home run off the bat of Anderson Hernandez in the fifth inning. Otherwise, Sabathia was in command, holding Washington to six hits over 7 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out two as he improved to 5-1 over his past eight starts.
Cano also made several nice plays in the field. His four hits moved his season line to .309 /.339/.504. He still doesn’t walk much, but that’s a solid line, especially out of second base.
I thought Sabathia pitched pretty well too, aside from one pitch to Anderson Hernandez that led to the three runs he gave up tonight. Brian Bruney looked pretty good in his first game back too, hitting 96 mph three times versus Ryan Zimmerman before getting him to ground out on an 89 mph slider. A healthy Bruney backed up by David Roberston is a good start in re-building the beleaguered Yankee middle relief.
Page 1 of 1 pages: