NEW YORK – The New York Yankees became the first team in major league history to hit three grand slams in a game, with Robinson Cano, Russell Martin and Curtis Granderson connecting Thursday in a wet, wild 22-9 romp over the Oakland Athletics.
In nearly a century of storied slugging, the Bronx Bombers never enjoyed a day like this.
On a dreary afternoon, some fans headed home with the Yankees trailing 7-1 after three innings and rain still falling in a game that began after an 89-minute delay.
Turns out they missed the Yankees coming home — over and over and over.
Cano began the barrage with his slam in the fifth off starter Rich Harden, making it 7-6. Martin connected in the sixth off Fautino De Los Santos for a 10-7 lead. Granderson took his turn in eighth, launching a two-out drive off Bruce Billings.
"It's a pretty crazy accomplishment, when you think about it," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "It's amazing."
Martin homered twice and doubled, setting career highs with five hits and six RBIs. Cano drove in five runs as the Yankees pulled off their biggest comeback win since 2006 and avoided a three-game sweep.
With MLB approaching its 200,000th regular season game next month, the Yankees put on a unique show with their bats — and gloves, too.
Former All-Star catcher Jorge Posada made his first career appearance at second base and had the final play, fielding a grounder and firing a one-hop throw that knocked over first baseman Nick Swisher and left him laughing as he caught it.
The Yankees had their chances to hit even more slams.
They came at bat a startling 17 times with the bases loaded — Derek Jeter alone got four tries, He grounded out twice, struck out and walked in those spots.
"I don't if I've ever heard of a stat of a guy being up four times with the bases loaded," Girardi said.
Jeter did get three hits and briefly boosted his average to .300. Quite a climb from that July day that began with him mired at .257 and ended with him getting his 3,000th career hit.
Granderson's slam gave him 103 RBIs. The Yankees had hit two slams in a game three times, but never at home.
The Yankees scored six times in the seventh, helped by seven walks in the inning, and six more in the eighth.
Cliff Pennington homered, doubled and drove in four runs for the A's. Scott Sizemore also homered.
Yet for all the gigantic hits, this day seemed to turn on something much more elementary — the weather.
Yankees fans weren't in a forgiving mood. They booed when a battered Phil Hughes walked off in the third inning and jeered when Pennington hit reliever Cory Wade's first pitch for a three-run homer that put the Athletics ahead 7-1.
But there was a big cheer when the sun poked through the clouds as the A's batted in the fourth. In-between innings, the stadium sound crew played "Here Comes the Sun" by the Beatles.
Moments later, the Yankees bats came out, too.
Martin began New York's rally with a solo home run in the fourth. Cano lined his second slam of the season and sixth of his career the next inning with a liner to right field.
Martin hit his slam the next inning, sending a fly barely over the wall in right-center for a 10-7. Martin took a curtain call after his third career slam.
Granderson capped the outburst with a no-doubt drive to right center.
The last time the Yankees had hit two grand slams in a game was Sept. 14, 1999, when Bernie Williams and Paul O'Neill did it at Toronto.
This was the seventh time the A's franchise gave up two slams in a game, STATS LLC said. Detroit's Ryan Raburn and Brandon Inge did it last in 2009 and he first came in 1936, when Tony Lazzeri of the Yankees hit a pair at Philadelphia.
Boone Logan (4-2) got the win and De Los Santos (2-1) lost.
Alex Rodriguez returned to the Yankees' lineup after missing two games with a sprained left thumb. He had two hits and scored three runs.
NOTES: Jeter lined a leadoff triple in the first and scored — he passed Rickey Henderson for 21st place on the career hits list with 3,056 and edged past Jimmie Foxx for 20th on the runs list with 1,752. ... Hideki Matsui fouled off eight pitches before hitting a sacrifice fly in the first. His next time up, he lined a hard foul into the seats down the right-field line that injured a man. Paramedics bandaged the left side of the fan's face, which appeared to be bleeding. The man gave a thumbs-up to the crowd as he walked away under his own power, with stadium personnel around him. ... Cano singled his first time up, extending his hitting streak to 16 games. ... A's catcher Anthony Recker made his big league debut and went 0 for 4, striking out three times and drawing a walk. ... The Yankees are scheduled to open a five-game, four-day series in Baltimore on Friday. A.J. Burnett (9-10, 4.96) is to oppose Baltimore's Tommy Hunter (2-2, 4.95). ... Gio Gonzalez (10-11, 3.24) is set to start Friday night for the A's at Fenway Park. He is 2-5 with a 5.31 ERA since the All-Star break. Tim Wakefield (6-5, 4.97) will make his sixth try for his 200th career win. ... Yankees LHP Pedro Feliciano (left shoulder tear) struck out one on his 35th birthday during a perfect inning in a Gulf Coast League game. It was the reliever's first game since getting hurt at spring training. ... New York LHP Damaso Marte, coming back from shoulder surgery, gave up six runs and six hits while getting only two outs in his first GCL game.
No comments:
Post a Comment