On the night the Yankees and Diamondbacks honored Jackie Robinson by each wearing No. 42, two Yankees with deep ties to the former Dodgers star carried the hosts to victory.
Mariano Rivera, the last player to wear No. 42, and Robinson Cano, who was named after Robinson, helped the Yankees cop their sixth win in seven games with a 4-2 victory in front of 34,107 at Yankee Stadium.
"I told him he is the right guy to have 42," Cano said of Rivera, who worked a perfect ninth for his third save in as many attempts.
Cano, who has carried the Yankees with Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and Curtis Granderson on the disabled list, crushed a three-run homer in the fourth inning off Brandon McCarthy that landed in the right-center field bleachers and erased a 2-0 deficit.
AP
42 SALUTE: Robinson Cano, who was named after Jackie Robinson, celebrates with Kevin Youkilis (left) after the Yankees' (fittingly) 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks on the day the Yankees honored Robinson by wearing his No. 42. Mariano Rivera, the last active player to wear No. 42, got the save.
"He has an easy way to get it done," Rivera said of Cano, who is hitting .500 (13-for-26) with 11 RBIs in the past six games.
Cano, a native of the Dominican Republic, enjoyed the occasion.
"He changed the game of baseball," he said of Robinson. "If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't be here. It's one of the fun days in the big leagues."
If it were not for Cano, the Yankees would not have won six or seven or be 7-5 after opening the season 1-4.
"When Robbie got it going, we got it going as a team," manager Joe Girardi said. "When he got hot our offense took off."
Thanks to solid relief work by Boone Logan, Joba Chamberlain, David Robertson and Rivera, Cano's homer and Eduardo Nunez's sacrifice fly in the seventh inning were enough.
"Everybody from Logan to Robertson did their job," said Rivera, who worked a perfect final frame using a cut fastball clocked between 89 and 91 mph. "We have been pitching better, and we want to keep it going.''
Ivan Nova (1-1) departed after five so-so innings in which he gave up two runs, seven hits and two walks. Logan, who had not worked since April 8 in Cleveland, retired all four batters he faced and left to a smattering of applause.
Chamberlain surfaced to post the final two outs of the seventh, and after Miguel Montero greeted Robertson with a leadoff single in the eighth, Robertson retired the next three.
In his second start of the season — and first since April 5 at Detroit after his turn was skipped amid a pair of rainouts — Nova needed 94 pitches to register 15 outs. Still, it was a lot better than the initial start and keeps him from having to answer questions about being replaced in the rotation by David Phelps.
Rivera and Cano beamed when talking about performing well on Jackie Robinson Day.
"I was 15 or 16 and I got a chance to research and that was amazing," Cano said of Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier.
Nobody will wear Robinson's No. 42 after Rivera leaves the game, which he has promised to do following this season.
"That's what you want to do," said Rivera, who hiked his all-time save record to 611. "Not only today but every day. But today was special."
george.king@nypost.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment