[外電] Yanks top Royals for fifth straight
Yanks top Royals for fifth straight
Team clubs 13 more hits as offensive surge continues
By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com
KANSAS CITY -- The Yankees have appeared refreshed following the All-Star
break, but if Johnny Damon's explanation is to be believed, the secret to
their success is that they never rested.
The rejuvenated Yankees offense couldn't be contained for yet another night
, beating up on the Royals pitching staff to post a 9-4 victory at Kauffman
Stadium on Tuesday, their 11th win in 14 games since reconvening for the
second half.
"We could have sat around and drank plenty of beer, but I think most of the
guys went into the break staying in shape, staying focused," Damon said. "We
all knew what we had to do."
Derek Jeter had four hits, Jorge Posada and Bobby Abreu each drove in two
runs, and Damon and Hideki Matsui scored twice apiece for New York in the
victory, staking starter Chien-Ming Wang to an early seven-run lead.
The victory moved the Yankees to a season-high seven games over .500 at
53-46, and just as importantly, nudged the club with 4 1/2 games of their
nearest playoff possibility, the American League Wild Card.
"We just need to stay the course," Damon said. "With over two months to go
, if we keep playing this way, there's no reason why we shouldn't be back
in the playoffs."
New York sits 7 1/2 games behind the Red Sox for the division pace, and
manager Joe Torre said that it's still a bit early to begin serious scoreboard
watching.
"We're heading in the right direction," Torre said. "We just need to keep on
keeping on, I guess you could say. You look and you see the deficit going
down, and I don't want to send the wrong message. We still need to get our
record where it needs to be."
Continuing a trend that saw them post at least one runner in 24 consecutive
innings through one point, the Yankees had little difficulty keeping potential
scoring men on the basepaths, batting around in both the first and second
innings.
Kansas City pitchers issued nine walks, including a career-high three for
Robinson Cano. Torre called it "the Jeter award from '96" and honored the
free-swinging Cano's accomplishment by giving him the lineup card from the game.
Cano credited his consistent batting cage work with hitting coach Kevin Long,
who has taken on the fairly unorthodox task of asking Cano not to swing at
pitches in practice sessions, so he is prepared to similarly lay off in game
action.
"Kevin and I have been working every single day," Cano said. "It's been working
right now."
Long explained the tactic: "If you swing at strikes, your numbers are going to
go up. I can't even remember the last time he swung at a ball out of the zone."
The Yankees had plenty to select from, as Royals pitchers threw a total of 224
pitches. Right-hander Scott Elarton was making his first start since coming off
the disabled list, and the Yankees made sure it didn't last long.
New York pummeled Elarton for seven runs in 1 2/3 innings, as Posada drilled
a two-run single in a four-run first and Abreu drove in runs in both of the
first two frames.
The continued high-octane production provided Wang with plenty of support as
the right-hander logged his club-leading 11th victory, though he believed it
didn't come as easily as he would have liked.
Torre believed Wang's mechanics were a bit awry and the hurler agreed that he
wasn't especially comfortable, though he held Kansas City to four runs and
seven hits over six innings, walking two and striking out three.
The manager suggested that the unusual set of circumstances from the first
two innings affected Wang in some fashion.
"Wang is used to pitching with very little run support, and I'm not sure he
was as comfortable as you would like him to be," Torre said. "He looked like
he had trouble getting it together mechanically today. The first inning, he
got them 1-2-3, and then it didn't look like he had command."
The Royals brought in two runs in the second on an Alex Gordon double and a
groundout, then added two in the fifth on Mark Teahen's sacrifice fly and a
Ross Gload single.
Still continuing in his chase to become the youngest Major League player to
hit 500 career home runs, Alex Rodriguez went homerless for the second
consecutive game, finishing 0-for-3. Rodriguez has 498 career home runs and
leads the Majors with 34 home runs and 100 RBIs.
That, and Melky Cabrera's hitless night, were just about the only down notes
for a Yankees offense that boasts nine players who are "clicking right now,"
as Long said.
"It's almost impossible to have nine guys going at once," Long said. "I've
done this a long time and there's always going to be somebody who struggles.
To have this many guys going at one time is a pretty good feeling."
--
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