Cano's walk-off hit lifts Yankees over Blue Jays
Photo credit: David Pokress | Robinson Cano, right, gets an energetic reception from teammate CC Sabathia after his walkoff hit in the Yankees' 4-3 win over Toronto.
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Photos: Yankees vs. Blue Jays
The Yankees hope the lasting images from yesterday's 4-3, 11-inning win over the Blue Jays will be these:
Robinson Cano's game-winning single to the right-centerfield wall. The celebration at home plate of another walk-off win. The whipped cream pie facial administered to Cano by A.J. Burnett.
The Yankees hope the lasting images will not be these:
Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez staggering around home plate in pain after getting hit by pitches, Jeter in the first inning and A-Rod in the last.
Jorge Posada taking a foul tip off his right hand and multiple nasty pitches off of multiple body parts from Burnett.
And an image that was seen only in the clubhouse after the game: Mariano Rivera pointing to the back of his shoulder, explaining why he was not available to pitch.
The Yankees hope all four superstars are not seriously injured. There's a good chance they're OK. But it's all possible none of the four will be healthy enough to play Thursday, when the Yankees open a 10-game trip in Seattle against the Mariners.
Jeter (right foot) and Rodriguez (left elbow) had X-rays and suffered no broken bones.
Jeter, who had to leave the game after two innings, said (of course) that he plans to play Thursday. "I wasn't moving too good,'' Jeter said. "I should be fine. I expect to play.''
Asked if it still hurt, Jeter said: "No, it feels good.''
While Jeter broke out the sarcasm, A-Rod was sincere that his elbow hurt like heck after he was hit by a pitch from Shawn Camp (1-6) with one out in the 11th. Rodriguez wears an elbow pad. The ball missed it.
"Since I've been wearing that pad, I've never had that feeling before,'' Rodriguez said. "It was kind of a funny thing. It just knocked the -- out of me. Obviously, my hand went numb.''
Rodriguez went down in agony and stayed down for a while. He scored the winning run, but chances are he wouldn't have been able to play third base if there had been a 12th inning.
"Jeter's was a curveball,'' manager Joe Girardi said. "There's a concern that he's going to be sore tomorrow. Alex got hit with a fastball. I don't think you're trying to hit a guy 0-and-2 in a sense and put the winning run on base, but there's a concern because he's going to be sore tomorrow. He was going to get tomorrow off anyway, but let's just hope that it's just one day.''
Because the Yankees had only one bench player left, Girardi would have been forced to use backup catcher Jose Molina at third base.
"I'm just glad that we got it done when we got it done,'' said Posada, who singled Rodriguez to second before Cano capped the Yankees' 11th walk-off win of the season.
Posada came out of the game banged up all over.
"I got hit everywhere,'' he said. "Felt like a boxing match. We'll see. We've got a long flight. We'll see how it feels tomorrow. It was OK to continue on, so it should be all right.''
And then there is Rivera, who picked up his 33rd save with a 25-pitch outing Tuesday night. The Yankees used four relievers yesterday, with Chad Gaudin getting the win with two scoreless innings in his Yankees debut, but Rivera was noticeably absent from the mound. After the game, Girardi explained why.
"Sometimes when you wake up in the morning your arm doesn't feel alive like it does on other days," he said. "It's not a concern of mine. Mo's had this before and he's thrown a lot. He's had a lot of saves for us. I'd be shocked if he's not ready tomorrow.''
Rivera also said he wasn't worried. He didn't fly with the club to Seattle, but a team spokesman said that was for personal, not medical, reasons, and that he would be there Thursday.
"It's all good," Rivera said. "It's all good."
The Yankees certainly hope so.
