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Yankees use long ball to tame Tribe

Jason Giambi's upper-deck home run in the fourth inning was one of four hit by the Yankees in their 6-3 win over the Cleveland Indians at Yankee Stadium on Thursday. (AP Photo / May 8, 2008)

BY ANTHONY RIEBER |

7:49 PM EDT, May 8, 2008

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Johnny Damon called the Yankees' offense "pitiful" on Wednesday after a shutout loss to the Indians.

Damon didn't really mean that. He just says those things when he gets frustrated. And he was mostly frustrated with himself.

Damon did something about it Thursday at the Stadium against the Indians. He personally ended the Yankees' 17-inning scoreless streak with a fourth-inning home run and then snapped a fifth-inning tie with a two-out, RBI double.

Damon led, the Yankees followed. Jason Giambi, Robinson Cano and Wilson Betemit also went deep as the Yankees helped Mike Mussina to his fourth straight win with a 6-3 getaway-day victory.

"It starts with me," Damon said.

That he means. And the numbers back him up. Damon is batting .377 in the Yankees' 18 wins and .188 in their 18 losses.

"As we can see, when I'm going well this team goes well," he said. "I don't know what it is. When I hit, the rest of the team says, 'Well, Johnny's hitting, maybe we all can.' It seems like it started there in the fourth inning after the home run."

It started there because the Yankees had done nothing to that point -- one single -- against playoff nemesis Paul Byrd. Damon's fifth home run leading off the fourth inning snapped a scoreless tie and woke up the matinee crowd of 53,227.

Later in the inning, Giambi launched a two-run home run into the upper deck in right for a 3-0 lead. It was just inside the foul pole; Giambi and the Yankees' bench, including Damon, tried to will the ball to stay fair.

"I was trying to talk it fair," said Giambi, who has hit three of his six homers off Byrd (1-3, 4.28 ERA). Giambi is tied for the team lead with Melky Cabrera.

"Guys came out today and had some good swings, big swings," said Mussina, who gave the three runs right back in the fifth on a two-run double by Casey Blake and an RBI single by Kelly Shoppach.

But Damon (2-for-4, two RBIs) made sure the lost lead didn't make the Yankees sag. His two-out, bloop double to left in the fifth scored Cano to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead and give Mussina (5-3, 4.36 ERA) a chance to win.

Ross Ohlendorf relieved Mussina to start the sixth and threw two important shutout innings. By the time Joba Chamberlain came on for the eighth, the Yankees had a 6-3 advantage thanks to back-to-back home runs from Cano and Betemit in the seventh.

"Everybody contributed a little something," said Cano (2-for-3), who had his first multi-hit game since April 12.

Actually Damon, Giambi, Cano and Betemit contributed big somethings. The Yankees entered the day tied with Tampa Bay for sixth in the American League in home runs with 33. That they miss injured Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada is not lost on anyone in pinstripes or anyone who pitches against the pinstripes.

"The rest of us have to be at the top of our game," Damon said. "Unfortunately, we all haven't been that way when Alex has been gone."

But as manager Joe Girardi said: "There's still a lot of good hitters in this lineup."

Only Hideki Matsui (.345, 17-game hitting streak) is having an All-Star type season. The Yankees have treaded water through the first 36 games. As with every .500 team, sometimes they've looked great. Other times they've looked pitiful.

Just ask Johnny Damon. Although he was feeling much better about things Thursday. What a difference a day and four home runs make.

"I thought it was great," Damon said. "Home runs definitely bring the crowd to their feet. Jason getting one and Robinson getting one, those two guys are very key to us. Those guys get going, I think our offense is going to be just fine."