John Sterling Gets Laryngitis

Okay, not really. But those famous pipes were put to the test last night when the Yankees clubbed 8 home runs and bombarded the Chicago White Sox, 16-3, at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees tied the team record set back in 1939, when Joe DiMaggio (2), Babe Dahlgren (2), Bill Dickey, George Selkirk, Tommy Henrich, and Joe Gordon all went deep. The one home run missing from those 8 last night was Alex Rodriguez's 500th. The Yankees also had 16 hits, but A-Rod went 0-5, though he just missed hitting one out a couple of times.

The Yankees jumped all over Jose Contreras, whose trade value dropped quicker than Dubya's approval rating, in the first two innings. Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter lead off the 1st with singles and Bobby Abreu crushed his 9th home run for a quick 3-0 lead. Two batters later, Hideki Matsui hit his first of two home runs on the night for a 4-0 lead. Matsui finished July with 13 home runs.

Mike Mussina (or Miss Sena as One-By-One of The Yankee Zone calls him) nearly gave the lead it all back at once. After allowing 2nd inning singles to Paul Konerko and Scott Podsednik, Moose served one up to Juan Uribe, who promptly crushed his 10th home run to cut the lead to 4-3. But Contreras was as bad as it gets.

The Cuban born right-hander retired the side in order in the 2nd, including a pair of strikeouts, but he wouldn't make it out of the 3rd. Matsui drew a 2-out walk and Jorge Posada followed with a single to center. Robinson Cano (9th) ripped a bullet into the bleachers in right-center to push the lead back to 7-3, and send Contreras to an early shower.

It only took 2 batters for reliever Charlie Haeger to join the party. Andy Phillips reached on an error and Melky Cabrera, batting from the right side, lined a 2-run HR (his 6th) into the left field seats. Even Mussina wasn't going to blow a lead on this night.

Moose settled down and gave the Yankees 6 innings before Kyle Farnsworth, who was roundly booed, Mike Myers, and Sean Henn threw 1 inning each. But the Yankees offense wasn't done.

Jorge Posada hit a 2-run shot, his 12th, in the 4th inning. Posada went 4-5 to raise his season average to .339. Matsui added a 2-run blast in the 6th, and Johnny Damon (6th) and Shelley Duncan, a late inning replacement, hit solo home runs in the 7th.

On a day that was unmemorable for the Yankees ability to make a trade, the night at Yankee Stadium was one to remember for the ages.

...

The victory moved the Yankees to within 7 games of Boston and 3 of Cleveland.

Mussina's victory was the 245th of his career.

A-Rod may have gone 0-5, but one young fan behind the Yankees dugout was quite happy with him. After his last at-bat, A-Rod gave him his bat.

Duncan's home run was his 4th in 7 games, and 21 at-bats. Hideki Matsui must have hated for the calendar to turn to a new month. He hit .345-13-28. Ironically, he only had 14 runs scored - or he was driven in only 1 time by someone other than himself.

Robinson Cano reached the .300 mark for the 1st time this season. He hit .385 in July with 6 HR and 24 ribbies. He's batting .410 since the All-Star break.