Yankees Batter Royals

Rookie Ivan Nova picked up his 12th win last night against the Kansas City Royals, but it was thanks in large part to the pounding the Yankees' bats put on fellow rookie Dan Duffy. Nova struggled in the early going, settled down for a couple of innings, and then was pulled when the Royals had cut a three run deficit to a single run in the 6th inning.

Boone Logan, with the help of a diving stop by Mark Teixeira, kept the lead and the Yankees bullpen trio of Rafael Soriano, David Robertson, and Mariano Rivera slammed the door on any hopes of a Royals comeback.

Nova can thank Robinson Cano most of all for adding to his win total, which is second only to CC Sabathia on the team. With two aboard in the 4th inning, Cano battled Duffy through a 12 pitch at-bat until the All-Star Home Run Derby king delivered a 421 ft. blast into the right field seats to put the Yankees on top for good 8-5.

Derek Jeter (5 RBI in the first two games of the series) and Russell Martin added a pair of RBI each and Martin continued his hot play behind the plate when he gunned down Jeff Francouer on an attempt to steal second base.

For Nova it was a night off from the consistency he had shown in his last half dozen starts. But the seven earned runs he allowed in 5.1 innings shouldn't have a big impact on Joe Girardi's thinking. Nova has been better more often and longer this season (and in the stretch drive) than either Phil Hughes or A.J. Burnett.

Rivera breezed through the 9th inning for the second straight night, struck out a pair, and picked up his 32nd save. The Yankees four relievers did not allow a single base runner in 3.2 IP.

Notes

Royals manager Ned Yost was tossed in the 4th after a trip to the mound. His real purpose was to complain to home plate ump Kerwin Danley about squeezing the strike zone on his prized rookie. Danley had a bad night behind the plate with the consistency of his strike zone and drew the ire of both teams.

Ogando Smacked By Better Batters Than Duncan Hines

Texas right-hander Alexi Ogando entered last night's start against the Yankees with a 7-0, 2.10 record. The Yankees had lost 1-0 the previous night to Cleveland after blowing several scoring opportunities. Not exactly the match up you want...but the Yankees took out the full wrath of Monday night's failures on Ogando and blew out the Rangers 12-4.

With Derek Jeter on the DL, Brett Gardner excelled in the lead off spot, at least for one night. The speedster ignited the Yankees attack with a three hit, three run night that also included a walk and a stolen base. It was Alex Rodriguez though that started the hit attack in the 2nd inning with a single. One out later Jorge Posada continued his hot hitting with a double and Nick Swisher drew a 3-2 walk to load the bases with one out. Eduardo Nunez, starting in place of Jeter, put the Yankees on the board with a single to left.

Ogando struck out Francisco Cervelli, but Gardner and Curtis Granderson followed with singles and Mark Teixeira doubled to give the Yankees a 6-0 lead and sent Ogando to the showers on his shortest outing of the season.

CC Sabathia wasn't at his best despite a 9-0 lead. The Rangers scored a pair of runs in the 4th and 5th to get themselves back in the ball game, but the Yankees put the game away in the 6th. Granderson smacked a 2-run home run off Yoshinori Tateyama to tie Jose Bautista for the league lead with 21 and Robinson Cano added a solo shot later in the inning.

Sabathia worked his way through seven innings to earn his eighth win before turning things over to the bullpen.

Notes

Swisher has struggled from the right side of the plate all season, but last night hit a solo home run off lefty Michael Kirkman.

Granderson two RBI pushed him past the half-century mark (51).

Who's Sori Now?

Rafael Soriano is lucky in one regard. More people are talking about the White Sox Brent Lillibridge this morning after the utility player made two spectacular game savings catches in the 9th inning to preserve Chicago's 3-2 win over the Yankees.

Lost in the shuffle was an outstanding 6.1 inning start by Ivan Nova and solo home runs by Brett Gardner and Robinson Cano off of starter Gavin Floyd. Not forgotten by anyone was another poor performance by Soriano. The right-hander who was signed to closer money this past off-season, has averaged nearly two hits and walks per inning and has a bloated 7.94 ERA.

After striking out Alexei Ramirez to start the 8th inning, Soriano hit Carlos Quentin in the shoulder with a breaking pitch. It's possible Lillibridge would have been a defensive replacement for Quentin in the 8th or 9th inning, but it became a certainty when he pinch-ran for the right fielder. Soriano then grooved a pitch down the middle of the plate to Paul Konerko, who launched it into the left field seats for a 3-2 Chicago lead.

As they did the night before, the Yankees got the lead off man on in the 9th, this time on a Derek Jeter infield single. Curtis Granderson successfully bunted the captain into scoring position to set things up for Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez. Matt Thornton walked Teixeira to put two men aboard and prompted Ozzie Guillen to call on Sergio Santos to face A-Rod. The DH in last night's game, Rodriguez hit a laser to the right field wall. Lillibridge raced back and made an outstretched catch to take away an extra base hit for the second out of the inning.

Before fans could get over the outfield thievery, Cano ripped a line drive that was destined to be a game tying hit, but Lillibridge made a full out dive to stab the ball before hit the ground. Just like that the game was over, but this morning Yankees' fans are still sitting with their mouths agape. And somewhere Jack Buck is yelling, "I can't believe what I just saw."

Michael Young will NOT Replace Robinson Cano

Okay, those of you throwing that crazy idea out there of trading for Michael Young and playing him at second base, can stop now. Young has agreed to play third base for the Rangers and has retracted his request to be traded.

Some Yankees fans, those who need an all-star at every position, were hoping the Yankees would deal for Young, enabling them to either move Cano to center field or trade him for pitching or a star center fielder.

Elvis is in the building - Young's spot at shortstop will be taken by 20-yr old rookie Elvis Andrus, who was acquired in 2007 as part of the Mark Teixeira deal with the Braves. He hit .295 last season at Double-A Frisco, with a .350 on-base percentage, and 54 stolen bases, and is considered a stellar defender. He also got a glimpse of Yankee Stadium in it's final season as a participant in the Futures game.

Young know his transition will be tough, but knows it will be even tougher for the rookie.

"Elvis is a good kid," Young said. "There were a couple of things about this that were tough. One is, the fans shouldn't have to choose between the club and a player. We're all working for the same thing. That's the last thing I wanted to happen.

"It's also tough for Elvis. He's a good kid. I met him last year in Spring Training and really like him. I want to be there for him and do everything I can to help him.