First it was Bobby Abreu sending a signal to shore that he’s alive and kicking. Last night, Hideki Matsui and Robinson Cano followed suit.
It’s just possible the Yankees have seen the last of some terrible slumps.
Matsui collected two hits, Cano stroked a two-run homer and Abreu was 3-for-3, giving him six hits in two games – plenty of ammunition for the Yankees in their 8-0 drubbing of the Twins.
Matsui was struggling the most, in a 5-for-41 (.122) rut entering last night. But with last night’s double and single in his final two at-bats, Matsui’s worst might be over.
Manager Joe Torre said he had a meeting with Matsui when the Yankees were in Baltimore last week, just to get a sense of where the problem might lie.
“[Matsui] felt just what we suspected – he was trying to pull the ball too much,” Torre said.
Abreu walked in the second inning and then singled in each of his final three at-bats. A night earlier, he had homered.
“Abreu is a big key to this lineup, and he knows it, too,” catcher Jorge Posada said. “He’s too good of a hitter to be down on himself.”
And then there was Cano, who hadn’t homered since June 1. His two-run blast in the fourth got the Yankees’ lead to 3-0.
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Alex Rodriguez gave the reporters at his locker plenty of proof that his left hamstring was fine yesterday afternoon when he jogged away – in perfect form – without answering questions.
After last night’s game, in which Rodriguez was removed in the seventh, Torre indicated that Rodriguez felt soreness.
The manager is planning to use A-Rod as the DH today.
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Edwar Ramirez became the first Yankee pitcher to strike out the first three batters he faced in his major-league career since Stan Bahnsen on Sept. 9, 1966 at Boston, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Bahnsen’s victims that day were Joe Foy, Carl Yastrzemski and Tony Conigliaro. Last night Ramirez fanned Michael Cuddyer, Justin Morneau and Lew Ford to finish the game.
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Torre indicated Kyle Farnsworth, who has been bothered by back soreness, was available last night, but the righty was not used.
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With last night’s three hits, Derek Jeter is now 5-for-10 (.500) over the last two games as the No. 3 hitter.