Robbie cleans up

The Yankees had a bit of a makeshift lineup Friday night, with third baseman Alex Rodriguez and catcher Francisco Cervelli being rested. Robinson Cano made his debut as a cleanup hitter, and the reviews were excellent. His grand slam in the seventh inning broke the game open for the Yankees on the way to an 8-2 victory over the Indians.

“Are you sure?” Cano said to manager Joe Girardi when he eyed the lineup.

Who could blame Robbie? He had gone 96 at-bats without a home run since May 2. Some cleanup hitter. Cano ran his hitting streak to 11 games, during which he has batted .426 with six doubles, one home run and 11 RBI in 47at-bats.

“Robbie doesn’t think about where he hits in the lineup,” Girardi said.

For a while, it looked as if it could be a special game for Phil Hughes, who labored throughout his prior two starts. The righthander struck out the first five batters he faced and seemed overpowering. Hughes got back on track with seven strong innings (two runs, five hits, one walk, eight strikeouts) to improve to 6-1 with a 2.70 ERA.

Also overpowering for the Yankees was Nick Swisher, who crushed his ninth home run in the second inning. The ball struck the foul pole just below the third deck at Yankee Stadium.

Hughes didn’t get his sixth strikeout until the fourth inning, but it was timely. After Jhonny Peralta doubled home a run and sent Russ Branyan to third base, Hughes caught Luis Valbuena looking at a 3-2 changeup for the third out. Hughes utilized the changeup more, a response to having allowed 41 foul balls in his previous outing. There were 27 foul balls off Hughes Friday night.

Curtis Granderson returned to the lineup after coming off the disabled list and was back in center field as Brett Gardner moved to left. Granderson batted second, which he will likely do for a while against right-handed starting pitchers. The switch-hitting Swisher will probably be in the 2-hole batting right-handed against lefty starters as Girardi tries to find a working combination for a spot in the batting order that has been troublesome this season.

Granderson somewhat inadvertently fueled the seventh-inning uprising. He fouled off two bunt attempts trying to sacrifice Derek Jeter, who led off with an infield single, to second. Swinging away with the count 0-2, Granderson doubled to right-center. A walk to Mark Teixeira filled the bases for Cano, who hit the next pitch into the right field stands for his third career salami.

Girardi has resisted the temptation to monkey around with the middle of his lineup despite the sporadic slumping of Teixeira and Rodriguez. Batting Cano fifth was the manager’s daring move of the season, and it has paid off quite handsomely. Cano might make a classic 3-hole hitter some day. That day has yet to arrive, but Robbie sure looked good batting fourth.
                                                                                                            

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{pageThe Yankees had a bit of a makeshift lineup Friday night, with third baseman Alex Rodriguez and catcher Francisco Cervelli being rested. Robinson Cano made his debut as a cleanup hitter, and the reviews were excellent. His grand slam in the seventh inning broke the game open for the Yankees on the way to an 8-2 victory over the Indians.

“Are you sure?” Cano said to manager Joe Girardi when he eyed the lineup.

Who could blame Robbie? He had gone 96 at-bats without a home run since May 2. Some cleanup hitter. Cano ran his hitting streak to 11 games, during which he has batted .426 with six doubles, one home run and 11 RBI in 47at-bats.

“Robbie doesn’t think about where he hits in the lineup,” Girardi said.

For a while, it looked as if it could be a special game for Phil Hughes, who labored throughout his prior two starts. The righthander struck out the first five batters he faced and seemed overpowering. Hughes got back on track with seven strong innings (two runs, five hits, one walk, eight strikeouts) to improve to 6-1 with a 2.70 ERA.

Also overpowering for the Yankees was Nick Swisher, who crushed his ninth home run in the second inning. The ball struck the foul pole just below the third deck at Yankee Stadium.

Hughes didn’t get his sixth strikeout until the fourth inning, but it was timely. After Jhonny Peralta doubled home a run and sent Russ Branyan to third base, Hughes caught Luis Valbuena looking at a 3-2 changeup for the third out. Hughes utilized the changeup more, a response to having allowed 41 foul balls in his previous outing. There were 27 foul balls off Hughes Friday night.

Curtis Granderson returned to the lineup after coming off the disabled list and was back in center field as Brett Gardner moved to left. Granderson batted second, which he will likely do for a while against right-handed starting pitchers. The switch-hitting Swisher will probably be in the 2-hole batting right-handed against lefty starters as Girardi tries to find a working combination for a spot in the batting order that has been troublesome this season.

Granderson somewhat inadvertently fueled the seventh-inning uprising. He fouled off two bunt attempts trying to sacrifice Derek Jeter, who led off with an infield single, to second. Swinging away with the count 0-2, Granderson doubled to right-center. A walk to Mark Teixeira filled the bases for Cano, who hit the next pitch into the right field stands for his third career salami.

Girardi has resisted the temptation to monkey around with the middle of his lineup despite the sporadic slumping of Teixeira and Rodriguez. Batting Cano fifth was the manager’s daring move of the season, and it has paid off quite handsomely. Cano might make a classic 3-hole hitter some day. That day has yet to arrive, but Robbie sure looked good batting fourth.
                                                                                                             
The Yankees had a bit of a makeshift lineup Friday night, with third baseman Alex Rodriguez and catcher Francisco Cervelli being rested. Robinson Cano made his debut as a cleanup hitter, and the reviews were excellent. His grand slam in the seventh inning broke the game open for the Yankees on the way to an 8-2 victory over the Indians.

“Are you sure?” Cano said to manager Joe Girardi when he eyed the lineup.

Who could blame Robbie? He had gone 96 at-bats without a home run since May 2. Some cleanup hitter. Cano ran his hitting streak to 11 games, during which he has batted .426 with six doubles, one home run and 11 RBI in 47at-bats.

“Robbie doesn’t think about where he hits in the lineup,” Girardi said.

For a while, it looked as if it could be a special game for Phil Hughes, who labored throughout his prior two starts. The righthander struck out the first five batters he faced and seemed overpowering. Hughes got back on track with seven strong innings (two runs, five hits, one walk, eight strikeouts) to improve to 6-1 with a 2.70 ERA.

Also overpowering for the Yankees was Nick Swisher, who crushed his ninth home run in the second inning. The ball struck the foul pole just below the third deck at Yankee Stadium.

Hughes didn’t get his sixth strikeout until the fourth inning, but it was timely. After Jhonny Peralta doubled home a run and sent Russ Branyan to third base, Hughes caught Luis Valbuena looking at a 3-2 changeup for the third out. Hughes utilized the changeup more, a response to having allowed 41 foul balls in his previous outing. There were 27 foul balls off Hughes Friday night.

Curtis Granderson returned to the lineup after coming off the disabled list and was back in center field as Brett Gardner moved to left. Granderson batted second, which he will likely do for a while against right-handed starting pitchers. The switch-hitting Swisher will probably be in the 2-hole batting right-handed against lefty starters as Girardi tries to find a working combination for a spot in the batting order that has been troublesome this season.

Granderson somewhat inadvertently fueled the seventh-inning uprising. He fouled off two bunt attempts trying to sacrifice Derek Jeter, who led off with an infield single, to second. Swinging away with the count 0-2, Granderson doubled to right-center. A walk to Mark Teixeira filled the bases for Cano, who hit the next pitch into the right field stands for his third career salami.

Girardi has resisted the temptation to monkey around with the middle of his lineup despite the sporadic slumping of Teixeira and Rodriguez. Batting Cano fifth was the manager’s daring move of the season, and it has paid off quite handsomely. Cano might make a classic 3-hole hitter some day. That day has yet to arrive, but Robbie sure looked good batting fourth.
                                                                                                             
The Yankees had a bit of a makeshift lineup Friday night, with third baseman Alex Rodriguez and catcher Francisco Cervelli being rested. Robinson Cano made his debut as a cleanup hitter, and the reviews were excellent. His grand slam in the seventh inning broke the game open for the Yankees on the way to an 8-2 victory over the Indians.

“Are you sure?” Cano said to manager Joe Girardi when he eyed the lineup.

Who could blame Robbie? He had gone 96 at-bats without a home run since May 2. Some cleanup hitter. Cano ran his hitting streak to 11 games, during which he has batted .426 with six doubles, one home run and 11 RBI in 47at-bats.

“Robbie doesn’t think about where he hits in the lineup,” Girardi said.

For a while, it looked as if it could be a special game for Phil Hughes, who labored throughout his prior two starts. The righthander struck out the first five batters he faced and seemed overpowering. Hughes got back on track with seven strong innings (two runs, five hits, one walk, eight strikeouts) to improve to 6-1 with a 2.70 ERA.

Also overpowering for the Yankees was Nick Swisher, who crushed his ninth home run in the second inning. The ball struck the foul pole just below the third deck at Yankee Stadium.

Hughes didn’t get his sixth strikeout until the fourth inning, but it was timely. After Jhonny Peralta doubled home a run and sent Russ Branyan to third base, Hughes caught Luis Valbuena looking at a 3-2 changeup for the third out. Hughes utilized the changeup more, a response to having allowed 41 foul balls in his previous outing. There were 27 foul balls off Hughes Friday night.

Curtis Granderson returned to the lineup after coming off the disabled list and was back in center field as Brett Gardner moved to left. Granderson batted second, which he will likely do for a while against right-handed starting pitchers. The switch-hitting Swisher will probably be in the 2-hole batti
ng right-handed against lefty starters as Girardi tries to find a working combination for a spot in the batting order that has been troublesome this season.

Granderson somewhat inadvertently fueled the seventh-inning uprising. He fouled off two bunt attempts trying to sacrifice Derek Jeter, who led off with an infield single, to second. Swinging away with the count 0-2, Granderson doubled to right-center. A walk to Mark Teixeira filled the bases for Cano, who hit the next pitch into the right field stands for his third career salami.

Girardi has resisted the temptation to monkey around with the middle of his lineup despite the sporadic slumping of Teixeira and Rodriguez. Batting Cano fifth was the manager’s daring move of the season, and it has paid off quite handsomely. Cano might make a classic 3-hole hitter some day. That day has yet to arrive, but Robbie sure looked good batting fourth.