Yankees End 1st Half on a It Is High, It is Far, It is Gone, Note

The Yankees ended the first half of the season on a very high note, belting 3 home runs in a 12-0 pasting of their arch nemesis, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in California in the Western Hemisphere - or whatever the hell they're calling themselves now.

Ervin Santana had beaten the Yankees 4 times in the regular season, and had topped them in the decisive game of the 2005 ALDS. But it was all Yankees today as Santana's 2007 struggles continued.

Melky Cabrera, Derek Jeter, and Alex Rodriguez stroked consecutive 1-out singles to give the Yankees a quick 1-0 lead in the 1st inning. Hideki Matsui then put the game immediately out of reach with a 3-run upper deck home run, his 11th of the season, and 3rd in the last 5 games.

Chien-Ming Wang fought of some early control problems and his perpetually torn finger nail to throw 6.1 scoreless innings. Mike Myers, Scott Proctor, and Luis Vizcaino combined for the final 2 2-3 innings as the offense continued to pour it on.

Santana started the 4th by hitting Jorge Posada with a pitch. Bobby Abreu followed with a single to right and Robinson belted another 3-run HR, this one off of the foul pole just below the upper deck. It was Cano's 6th of the season, with half of them coming in the last 6 games.

After Andy Phillips doubled and Johnny Damon drew a walk, Angels' manager finally sent for reliever Chris Resop. Melky moved the runners up with a sac bunt, but they had to hold as Jeter grounded out for the 2nd out. But that brought A-Rod to the plate and he loves Angel's pitching. When Resop hung a breaking pitch, A-Rod jumped on it, sending a few rows back in the seats in left for the Yankees third 3-run HR of the game, and a 10-0 lead. It was A-Rod's 30th of the season and number 494 for his career, putting ahead of Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff.

Miguel Cairo added a tack on 2-run double in the 7th, but this game was all about the long ball and great pitching.

...

The Yankees bounced back from Saturday's fielding nightmare and played an errorless game in the field. Wang has not allowed an unearned run in 39 starts. That's the most by any pitcher since unearned runs were charted beginning in 1913. Wang's victory was his 6th straight. He's now 36-15 in his career.


A-Rod's 30 HRs are the most by a Yankee at the All-Star break since Roger Maris' 33 in the magical 1961 season. He also now has 1,433 RBI, which puts him ahead of Yogi Berra for 55th all-time.

Proctor finished the 1st half tied for the league lead in appearances - no shock there.

The Yankees go into the break having won 5 of 7 games and 2 straight series.