Yankees Slam Brakes on Skid

Back in the day George Steinbrenner would fire off some garbage in the press as his way of motivating the Yankees. Then the Yankees would go out and win and George would take credit for motivating the troops. Yesterday Hank Steinbrenner said "we had better start scoring runs". Hopefully he's not as delusional as his Dad, because the Yankees went out and put forth their biggest run explosion of the season in an 18-7 pasting of the Texas Rangers.

The Yankees had lead 5-3 on Jason Giambi's 13th career grand slam, but Sidney Ponson served up 2-run home runs to Milton Bradley and Chris Davis in the 6th, so the Yankees trailed 7-6 entering the 7th. Rangers manager Ron Washington brought in Warner Madrigal, making his major league debut, to start the inning. It will be a debut that Madrigal will try to erase from his memory banks.

Bobby Abreu lead off the inning with a ground double to left and Alex Rodriguez followed with a walk. Giambi pushed his RBI total to six when he hit a pitch up the alley in left-center for a 2-run double to give the Yankees an 8-7 lead. Jorge Posada followed with an RBI double into the right field corner and advanced to 3rd base on Robinson Cano's single. Wilson Betemit's ground out to Ian Kinsler scored Posada, with Cano moving to 2nd base on the play. The first out of the inning, but the inning was far from over.

After Cano moved to third on a wild pitch, rookie Brett Gardner picked up his first major league hit and RBI when he singled through the right side. He received a huge ovation from the crowd, which included his parents and family. Gardner stole 2nd base and came around on Johnny Damon's single to left, easily beating the off-line throw from left fielder Brandon Boggs.

Washington left the kid in to take one for the team, and/or destroy him mentally. Two batters later Abreu walked and A-Rod followed with an opposite field, cherry on the sundae, 3-run home run. It was A-Rod's 535th career home run, putting him in sole possession of 14th place on the all-time list, one behind Mickey Mantle. The Yankees would add two more runs off of Jamey Wright in the 8th inning, showing that, at least for one night, the slumbering offense was back to life.

Ponson blew two leads in the game. After Cano's RBI double gave the Yankees a 1-0 lead in the 2nd, Ponson gave it right back in the top of the 3rd inning. Michael Young tied the game with an RBI double, and then he and Kinsler scored on Josh Hamilton's 2-run single.

Really Big Sid was charged with 7 runs on 9 hits over 5 innings, proving once again that he is NOT a long term solution.

News and Notes

Edwar Ramirez (2-0) picked up the win after pitching a stellar two innings, striking out three.

Derek Jeter singled in his final at-bat, but has just 5 hits in his last 25 at-bats.

As the temperatures rise, so does Robinson Cano's batting average. After hitting .151 in April, Cano surged late in May to hit .295, then .287 in June, and so far is 4-9 in 2 games in July. His average has climbed up to .248.

Prior to the game, Joe Girardi presented Alex Rodriguez and Jeter with their Silver Slugger awards, for having the highest average last season at their respective positions.

July 2, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Texas	0	0	3	0	0	4	0	0	0		7	9	2
NY Yankees	0	1	4	0	1	0	9	3	X		18	16	0

Texas	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Kinsler, 2B	4	1	1	0	1	0	0	.323
Young, SS	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	.288
Vazquez, SS	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.314
Hamilton, CF	3	1	1	2	2	0	0	.308
Bradley, RF	4	1	1	2	0	1	2	.320
Catalanotto, DH	3	1	3	0	1	0	0	.291
Davis, C, 1B	4	1	1	2	0	0	3	.316
Ramirez, M, C	4	0	0	0	0	2	2	.150
Boggs, LF	2	1	1	0	2	0	0	.257
Duran, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	2	4	.188
Totals	33	7	9	7	6	5	13
BATTING 2B: Catalanotto (15, Ponson), Young (23, Ponson). HR: Bradley (17, 6th inning off Ponson, 1 on, 0 out), Davis, C (3, 6th inning off Ponson, 1 on, 0 out). TB: Kinsler; Young 2; Hamilton; Bradley 4; Catalanotto 4; Davis, C 4; Boggs. RBI: Young (45), Hamilton 2 (82), Bradley 2 (51), Davis, C 2 (7). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Ramirez, M; Duran. GIDP: Bradley; Davis, C. Team LOB: 5. FIELDING E: Kinsler (16, fielding), Duran (5, fielding). DP: (Kinsler-Vazquez-Davis, C).

Texas	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Mendoza	4.2	4	6	1	2	0	1	4.64
Benoit	1.1	0	0	0	3	0	0	5.60
Madrigal (BS, 1)(L, 0-1)	0.1	5	6	6	1	0	0	162.00
Wright	1.2	7	6	6	1	0	1	4.63

NY Yankees	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Damon, LF	6	3	3	2	0	0	2	.320
Jeter, SS	5	1	1	0	1	0	3	.279
Moeller, 1B	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.254
Abreu, RF	5	3	2	2	1	0	3	.284
Rodriguez, 3B	3	4	2	3	2	0	0	.321
Gonzalez, 3B-SS	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.173
Giambi, DH	4	2	2	6	0	0	1	.268
Posada, C	3	1	1	2	1	0	1	.293
Molina, C	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.233
Cano, 2B	5	1	2	1	0	0	4	.248
Betemit, 1B-3B	4	0	1	1	1	0	2	.267
Gardner, CF	4	2	1	1	1	0	2	.100
Totals	41	18	16	18	7	0	20
BATTING 2B: Cano (18, Mendoza), Abreu (19, Madrigal), Giambi (13, Madrigal), Posada (12, Madrigal). HR: Giambi (18, 3rd inning off Mendoza, 3 on, 2 out), Rodriguez (17, 7th inning off Wright, 2 on, 2 out). TB: Damon 3; Jeter; Abreu 3; Rodriguez 5; Giambi 6; Posada 2; Molina; Cano 3; Betemit; Gardner. RBI: Cano (35), Giambi 6 (52), Posada 2 (22), Betemit (14), Gardner (1), Damon 2 (37), Rodriguez 3 (47), Abreu 2 (55). 2-out RBI: Cano; Giambi 4; Posada; Rodriguez 3; Damon; Abreu 2. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Betemit; Cano 2; Gonzalez. GIDP: Jeter. Team LOB: 7. BASERUNNING SB: Gardner (2, 2nd base off Wright/Ramirez, M). FIELDING DP: 3 (Cano-Betemit 2, Cano-Jeter-Betemit).

NY Yankees	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Ponson	5.0	9	7	7	3	1	2	4.18
Ramirez (W, 2-0)	2.0	0	0	0	1	3	0	3.10
Farnsworth	1.0	0	0	0	2	1	0	3.89
Hawkins	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5.86

Ponson pitched to 4 batters in the 6th.

WP: Madrigal.
HBP: Giambi (by Mendoza).
Pitches-strikes: Mendoza 88-49, Benoit 31-14, Madrigal 26-15,
Wright 42-24, Ponson 83-50, Ramirez 30-20, Farnsworth 24-13, Hawkins 9-7.
Ground outs-fly outs: Mendoza 10-4, Benoit 3-1, Madrigal 1-0,
Wright 3-2, Ponson 6-7, Ramirez 3-0, Farnsworth 1-1, Hawkins 1-2.
Batters faced: Mendoza 23, Benoit 6, Madrigal 7, Wright 13,
Ponson 24, Ramirez 7, Farnsworth 5, Hawkins 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Benoit 3-1, Wright 1-1.
Umpires: HP: Dale Scott. 1B: Ron Kulpa.
2B: Dan Iassogna. 3B: Bill Hohn.
Weather: 81 degrees, clear.
Wind: 12 mph, Out to RF.
T: 3:37.
Att: 52,659.