Cano Homers Yankees Past Diamondbacks

The Associated Press

On a night of tributes at Yankee Stadium, Robinson Cano came up big, hitting a three-run blast to propel the team past the Arizona Diamondbacks in a 4-2 win.

Although Major League Baseball honored Jackie Robinson Monday with all players wearing the number 42 on their uniforms, the Yankees paid tribute last night because they were off on Jackie Robinson Day. The team also paid tribute to the city of Boston in the wake of the bombings during Monday's Boston Marathon by playing Neil Diamond's classic, "Sweet Caroline" at the end of the third inning. The song is normally played at Fenway Park during the Red Sox's Seventh Inning Stretch.

But last night was a big night for Cano and further proof that he is stepping up to carry this team on his power shoulders. With the Yankees down 2-0 going into the bottom of the fourth inning, Cano smacked a 3-run blast into the second section of the right field bleachers to put the Yanks ahead 3-2. Before the homer, Lyle Overbay and Chris Stewart got on with singles to left field. The home run would be all the offense the Yankees needed to win.

"Since I saw [Cano] in the minor leagues, he has a kind of easy way to getting it done," Mariano Rivera told the media after the game. "You make a mistake with a guy like that, and you're going to pay."



The Associated Press

Last night was also a special night for Mo. We all know that he is the only player in MLB that wears the number 42 on his uniform, as he was "grandfathered in" when Jackie Robinson Day became official. So to get the save on a night in tribute to the man that broke the color barrier in baseball felt good for him.

"Definitely," Mo said. "To come up with the victory and be the guy to close the game, that's pretty good."

And Ivan Nova pitched well enough to get the win, but it was not a very good performance for him overall. As former Yankee Al Leiter pointed out several times during last night's broadcast, Nova seems afraid to throw his fastball, relying mostly on breaking balls and sinkers. By the end of the fourth inning, his pitch count had almost reached 80. But a win is a win, and Nova probably spared himself from being removed from the lineup for now.

Tonight, our ace CC Sabathia will get the start against LHP Wade Miley. Miley has been superb for Arizona so far, with a 2-0 record and 2.13 ERA. Should be a good matchup. Game time is 7:05 pm.

Quote credit: Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

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Yankees Lineup for 4/10/13

Ichiro will get a day of rest while Brennan Boesch gets the start in right field. Here is tonight's lineup:

Brett Gardner CF - .257/.333/.400
Robinson Cano 2B - .303/.361/.667
Kevin Youkilis 3B - .367/.441/.700
Travis Hafner DH - .333/.419/.556
Vernon Wells LF - .360/.467/.720
Brennan Boesch RF - .250/.250/.667
Eduardo Nunez SS - .250/.304/.300
Lyle Overbay 1B - .250/.276/.429
Chris Stewart C - .200/.200/.200

Ivan Nova RHP - 0-1, 7.71 ERA

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Yankees Lineup for 4/8/13

Eduardo Nunez rejoins the lineup. Here are this afternoon's starters:

Brett Gardner CF - .160/.250/.280
Robinson Cano 2B - .130/.200/.130
Kevin Youkilis 3B - .409/.480/.727
Travis Hafner DH - .350/.409/.500
Vernon Wells LF - .294/.429/.706
Ichiro Suzuki RF - .111/.190/.111
Eduardo Nunez SS - .364/.462/.455
Lyle Overbay 1B - .211/.250/.263
Chris Stewart C - .167/.167/.167

Hiroki Kuroda RHP - 0-1, 13.50 ERA

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Yankees Back On Track; Beat Twins 8-3

Associated Press

Good morning fanatics! I've been asleep at the wheel, having not posted anything on our beloved boys in blue since last Friday. It's been a busy few days for me, and while I love bringing you guys all the news you can use, I know that my fellow Yankee bloggers have given you all plenty to digest until my return. I have a feeling that there will be a post coming soon inviting all you great writers out there to apply to write here at Bomber Boulevard; I simply can't keep daily entries coming by myself. So all you aspiring Yankee bloggers, look out for it.

In just a small recap, the Yankees won their series against the Angels, taking Games 1 and 2 on Friday and Sunday. They started their series against our favorite team to beat--the Minnesota Twins--on Monday, continuing with Game 3 tonight at the stadium. Game 1 was a wash for our boys, as Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau went a combined 5-of-9 to lead the Twins to a 7-3 vistory.

Getty Images

But of course, the Yankees did what they always do to Minnesota: lull them into a false sense of security and give them hope that maybe they've gotten over the Yankee hump. But that's never quite the case, and it wasn't last night in Game 2 as the Yankees had a big comeback, beating Minnesota 8-3. CC Sabathia got the start and struggled in the third inning, but managed to regain his ace-like form for his first win. CC went 7.1 innings with seven strikeouts, four hits, a walk and only three runs. He mixed his fastball and slider for strikes; the FB reaching a speed of 93 mph.

Chris Stewart, who gave Russell Martin a needed day off behind the plate, also came up big for the Yankees, and backed up CC in that shaky third inning. The Twins had just taken a 3-1 lead; the team seeming to respond to the ejections of manager Ron Gardenhire and right-fielder Denard Span, both of whom argued balls and strikes with the umpire. Thankfully the offense was able to stop the Twins' momentum. Following an RBI single from Eduardo Nunez that scored Andruw Jones, Stewart hit a line-drive double to score Nunez and Curtis Granderson. Granderson had been on with a single to right.

The Yankee offense had a great night. The bottom of the lineup--Nunez, Stewart and Brett Gardner--combined for a 6-for-10 night with 5 RBIs; hitters 1thru 6--Derek Jeter, Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano, Alex Rodriguez, Jones and Granderson--went 7-for-26 with 3 RBIs. The hits total might have fared better had A-Rod not come up empty in last night's game. His stats don't say so, but he is actually hitting very well, connecting on line-drives, but he's hitting directly at the outfielders. Hopefully, he'll start hitting balls in the gap and revert those line-drives to home runs.

Associated Press

And can I just say that The Captain is once again defying the laws of age, and seems on his way to another monster offensive season. Jeter is hitting everything that is coming his way and is tied with Grandy for the club lead in homers at three. He's also leading the team in slugging with a .633 percentage, and hits with 18. As great a hitter as Jeter is, a batting title has eluded him his entire career. Could this be the year? Only time can tell, fanatics. I personally will be adding a request that it does to my prayers.

Tonight, Hiroki Kuroda gets the start against righty jason Marquis.

Follow Rasheeda Cooper on twitter: @ra_cooper