Yankees Steamroll O's

There was plenty of buzz in the D.C. metro area last night, all of it south of Baltimore where Stephen Strasburg was making his major league debut for the Washington Nationals. Meanwhile, the Yankees buzz sawed the Orioles 12-7 at Camden Yards.

Nick Swisher drove in five runs, Curtis Granderson belted a grand slam, and Mark Teixeira broke out of his slump, for one night at least, with three hits and a home run. All of the offense was more than enough for Phil Hughes to pick up his eighth win despite not having his best stuff.

While Strasburg was making history with 14 strikeouts against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Yankees jumped all over Kevin Millwood for the second time in a week. Swisher, the games second batter, continued his assault on Camden Yards with a 2-run home run. The right fielder has a career .339 average at the Orioles' home with 14 HR and 36 RBI in 31 games.

Two innings later, the Yankees the loaded the bases off of Millwood and Granderson broke the game open with his second career grand slam. Since returning from the DL on May 28, Granderson is hitting.324 (12-37) with eight RBI and eight runs scored.

Hughes said afterwards that he didn't feel quite right out on the mound, and the Orioles took advantage, banging out nine hits and scoring three runs in six innings. But the offense more than picked up the slack.

With the lead cut to 6-3, the Bombers put a six spot up on the board in the 7th. Swisher delivered a bases loaded double that plated three and Teixeira took out his most recent struggles on a Matt Albers pitch, sending it deep into the night for his 9th home run.

Notes

Just because you're the last man on the roster, doesn't mean you don't have to earn your way. I was not pleased when the Yankees re-signed Chad Gaudin after the A's released him in May and I continue to not be pleased. Last night, the Yankees almost needed to use "real" relievers when Gaudin gave up four runs over the final two innings. His ERA rose to 8.53 in the process.

Jorge Posada got closer to getting back behind home plate by catching Andy Pettitte's bullpen session yesterday.

Tuesday was the 41st anniversary of Mickey Mantle Day at version I of Yankee Stadium. The Mick had his number retired before a packed house.

Late mention, but congrats to Bob Lorenz for the job he did over the weekend doing play-by-play in the Yankees-Blue Jays series. He quickly proved that he, like Ken Singleton, is a better play-by-play guy than Michael Kay.