Herrmann: A-Rod put Cano in position to clean up

As far as the Yankees' cleanup spot goes, Alex Rodriguez does not have to worry about being Wally Pipp. When he comes off the disabled list, he will resume batting fourth regardless of how his temporary replacement is doing. "Of course," said Robinson Cano, the temporary replacement. "That's his spot."

And Cano is A-Rod's guy. He is Rodriguez's star pupil, big fan and close friend as much as he is a stand-in. The way Cano looks at it, he owes it to Rodriguez to excel, having moved up one notch in the batting order to the prestigious, responsible No. 4 position with A-Rod out.

Rodriguez was the one who helped put Cano's now-luminous career on track, making sure he got out for early practice with coach Larry Bowa during the Joe Torre years. Rodriguez was the one who pulled Cano aside for a 40-minute tutorial during spring training this year, a session that got him ready to protect A-Rod at No. 5 in the order and to fill in for him now.

The lesson on a back field that day in March was about mechanics and approach. Rodriguez drove home the point about driving in runs: In clutch situations, Cano had to do more than just slap the ball into play. He had to hammer it and pull it.

"Robbie took off from that point on," Joe Girardi said Sunday. "I saw a difference in spring training and I've seen a difference all year long in his situational hitting. It's almost like that talk helped him mature to be the player we knew he could be."

Here's the player Cano can be: He hit a grand slam to right in the fifth and a two-run single to right in the sixth that broke open the Yankees' 10-0 rout of the Mariners Sunday at the Stadium. His career-high six-RBI game capped a six-game span in which he went 9-for-24 with four home runs and 13 runs batted in - mostly batting cleanup.

He appreciates the responsibility of being the Yankees' cleanup batter, an honor that dates to Lou Gehrig, who wore No. 4 because of his spot in the lineup. He won that role after Pipp felt out of sorts once and needed a day off. Gehrig played every day for 14 seasons. But A-Rod is no Pipp.

"The guy who was there before, every year he has 100 RBI, 30 home runs. Now it's time to step it up," Cano said of Rodriguez. "Of course I like that. It's a situation where you want to be there because you know the team, the manager can trust you. I'm the kind of guy who likes hard situations because you learn. If everything was easy, you'd never work hard."

The knock on Cano in late 2008 was that he wasn't working hard enough. He was benched. But he is more mature now, more in tune with his talent and potential. At 27, he also is strong enough to have played in 123 of the Yankees' 124 games, contributing a huge pinch hit when he was sick during a game in Texas last week.

Cano always has been consistent in his respect for Rodriguez. Even when A-Rod was seen as aloof or an underachiever among the Yankees, he had an admirer in the second baseman.

"He's a huge influence. Watching him, the way he plays hard, making history every single day, great numbers. He's a guy you've got to follow," Cano said. "I look at him like a big brother."

He has gone so far as to follow Rodriguez's advice and example. As Nick Swisher said Sunday: "I kept telling him, 'Dude, you're hitting in the four hole and keep coming up with the bases loaded every at-bat now.' He's having a tremendous year, definitely in the MVP running."

At first, Cano laughed off questions about the MVP award - a prize Rodriguez has won twice as a Yankee - before saying, "To be honest with you, I don't see myself there."

What he sees is a guy trying to measure up to his mentor's standards. Cano is a big reason why the Yankees are 12-0 without Rodriguez this season. He also is proof that A-Rod is a presence even in his absence.