Cano hits walk-off three-run homer in 10th
Robinson Cano knew what was coming and happily took it.
With two on and two out in the bottom of the 10th inning, Cano had driven lefthander Randy Williams' 2-and-2 pitch into the home bullpen for a three-run homer, giving the Yankees a 5-2 walk-off win over the White Sox Friday night at Yankee Stadium.
Then, as Cano waited to be interviewed on television, Yankees pie man A.J. Burnett flew past and delivered a whipped cream shot to the second baseman's face. Cano shot his arms skyward in exultant triumph, happy to end a rainy night in the Bronx with his first career walk-off home run and the Yankees' 12th walk-off hit of the season.
"Oh, man," Cano said. "It's exciting running around the bases, seeing the fans clap and your teammates at the plate. It's great."
It was Cano's second walk-off hit this season, as his single in the 11th inning Aug. 12 beat the Blue Jays at the Stadium. But it had mostly been a struggle for Cano with runners in scoring position. He entered Friday night's game hitting just .204 in those situations this season.
"The thing about Robby is, he's going to put the ball in play,'' Joe Girardi said, "and a lot of times, he's going to hit it hard."
With two out and none on, Hideki Matsui and Nick Swisher walked on eight pitches before Cano's blast, which was fielded by a happy Alfredo Aceves in the Yankees' bullpen.
The second out of the inning, off the bat of Alex Rodriguez, was a loud one, a drive to left-center that died in the strong wind that blew in from left all night. It appeared to be a home run off the bat but didn't even reach the warning track, disappointing A-Rod and the crowd.
"I saw that one didn't leave and he crushed that one," Cano said of Rodriguez's drive. "[Jose] Molina told me from leftfield to centerfield, it's not carrying, but if you hit it to rightfield, the ball is flying that way. But I wasn't going up there looking to pull the ball; I was looking for something good to hit."
He got it and knew exactly where it was headed, immediately flipping the bat before running the bases. "He put a great swing on that ball and it was a no-doubter,'' Girardi said.
It was the third homer of the game for the Yankees. Facing Mark Buehrle, Derek Jeter led off the first with his 17th and Johnny Damon led off the third with his 23rd. Cano has 21.
CC Sabathia, who had won his previous five starts and was bidding to become the major leagues' first 16-game winner, struck out 10 in the first six innings to tie a season high but couldn't hold the 2-0 lead he took into the seventh. He allowed four hits and a walk in the inning and escaped with a tie only because rightfielder Swisher threw out Ramon Castro at the plate on Gordon Beckham's two-out, full-count RBI single.
Jermaine Dye began the seventh by ripping a leadoff double to right-center and Carlos Quentin walked. Alex Rios sliced a double down the rightfield line to make it 2-1 and put runners at second and third with none out.
After Alexei Ramirez lined out to Cano, Castro grounded hard to third. Quentin went on contact and Rodriguez's strong throw home beat him to the plate. Molina made the tag, leaving runners on first and second with two out.
Rodriguez saved a run with a diving stop of Jayson Nix's smash over third base, holding Nix to an infield single. With the bases loaded, Sabathia fell behind Beckham 3-and-1. After a called strike, Beckham slapped an opposite-field single to right. Rios scored to make it 2-2 but Swisher threw out Castro at home, with Molina grabbing his one-hop throw, making the exchange and tagging Castro with the ball in his bare hand.
"Like throwing a wet bar of soap," Swisher joked, referring to the rain that fell throughout.
Swisher, replaced at times in the late inning because of his defensive issues, said he's been working on that part of his game. He said he's sought the counsel of pitching coach Dave Eiland and reliever Phil Coke regarding how to make strong throws from the outfield.
"That's one great thing about our team: We have such a great relationship throughout the locker room, if I need some help on something, who better to go to than the man who actually teaches throwing the baseball?" Swisher said.
Sabathia threw it exceptionally well, too. Swisher praised him for another good outing, but the lefty was thankful for the defensive plays that likely saved him from a loss.
"Swish came up huge,'' he said. "That was a really big play and Alex's play down the line and him throwing the runner out at home. Those guys definitely bailed me out tonight."
Phil Hughes struck out the side in the eighth, Mariano Rivera pitched a perfect ninth and Brian Bruney (4-0) did the same in the 10th.
"We had a lot of guys step up tonight," Girardi said. "Derek got us started, CC pitched a great game, then Hughes, Mo, Bru came in and did a really nice job and then you get the huge hit from Robby."
Jeter led off the first inning with a home run for the third time this season, driving Buehrle's 1-and-2 pitch to deep left-center for a 1-0 lead. It was the 22nd leadoff homer of Jeter's career, putting him in second place on the franchise list behind Rickey Henderson (24).
Damon led off the third with his 23rd homer of the season - his most since hitting a career-high 24 in 2006 - to make it 2-0.
Sabathia struck out two in the first inning and bettered himself in the second after Paul Konerko led off with a towering fly to center that got caught up in the stiff wind. Melky Cabrera seemed to lose sight of the ball and it landed in front of a diving Swisher in right-center for what was scored a double. Sabathia shrugged off the play and struck out the side.
Nix led off the sixth with a single, but Sabathia struck out Beckham and Jim Thome before ending the inning by inducing a soft groundout by Konerko.
Sabathia allowed two runs and eight hits in seven innings. Buehrle, who came in 0-6 in 10 career starts against Sabathia, allowed two runs and eight hits in six innings, his best start since throwing a perfect game July 23 against the Rays.
Buehrle, who came in 0-6 in 10 starts against Sabathia, allowed two runs and eight hits in six innings, his best start since his perfect game July 23 against the Rays.
