If Robinson Cano wants the Yankees to bestow him an Alex Rodriguez-like contract — a concept made all the tougher with this version of A-Rod currently bedeviling the franchise — then he is going to have to more frequently carry the team in games like yesterday's.
Instead, with the Yankees desperately in need of a matinee hero, Cano was part of the problem as Derek Holland blanked the Yanks on 92 pitches in a 2-0 Texas victory.
An AL-high-tying seventh shutout should have moved the Yanks to send this message to A-Rod: All is forgiven, come home. Quick.
Anthony J Causi
CANO GO: Robinson Cano strikes out in the fourth inning after Jayson Nix led off the inning with a walk. Cano went 0-for-2 with a walk and was thrown out at second trying to advance when a pitch got away from Rangers catcher Geovany Soto.
For this was the fewest pitches to throw a nine-inning complete game against the Yankees since Tigers right-hander Steve Sparks' 84 on June 19, 2001, according to data on baseball-reference.com, and the fewest in a nine-inning shutout since Phillies righty Mike Grace's 84 on Sept. 2, 1997. No lefty has thrown that few pitches in a complete game against the Yanks since at least 1987.
That the lefty was Holland says something about these Yankees. He entered 0-5 with an 8.85 ERA and .325 batting average against for his career vs. the Yankees. Among active pitchers with at least five starts against the Yankees, only Josh Beckett had a worse ERA and batting average.
But that was against a different Yankees team. Mark Teixeira is 7-for-23 with three homers off Holland. Derek Jeter is 12-for-22 with five doubles. A-Rod is 3-for-11 with a double, homer and eight walks.
This version of the Yankees, particularly against a lefty, goes 1-2-3 faster than anyone on "Dancing with the Stars." To call the Yankees righty bats anemic would be an insult to the anemic. Yankees righties came in with, by far, the majors' worst slugging percentage and OPS, plus the second-fewest homers. And then they went 1-for-17 against Holland.
That group was Jayson Nix, Vernon Wells (who went 0-for-3, striking out amateurishly against a slider in all three at-bats), Zoilo Almonte, David Adams, Alberto Gonzalez and Austin Romine. Still saying you don't want A-Rod back, Yankee fans? Alvaro Espinoza would laugh at that group of righties.
And that is why there is extra responsibility for Cano, the last star standing. The Yankees already know Teixeira and possibly Kevin Youkilis are not returning. Who knows what they will get from Jeter and A-Rod when and if they ever get back.
The Yankees need Cano to be their Buster Posey. He carried a Giant offense in the championship seasons of 2010 and '12, though — like Cano — he was an island of greatness surrounded by a sea of mostly lineup mediocrity.
To this point, Cano has been merely very good, but not great and at a time when his camp is trying to convince the Yankees to open their wallet wide. But here is the current reality — the Yankees' offense, attendance and TV ratings are all down quite a bit with him as the central figure.
When I asked him yesterday if he was feeling the pressure of all of that, he responded, "honestly, no, I know we don't have some of the big guys we have had before, but I am just trying to have a good day every day and help us win."
Yesterday one swing from him could have been the difference. Phil Hughes had his two familiar problems — an inability to finish off hitters and the long ball. In the second inning, after getting ahead 1-2 on both, Hughes walked No. 8 hitter Jurickson Profar and allowed a single to Engel Beltre, setting up an Ian Kinsler sac fly. In the sixth, Profar homered, the 14th this season off Hughes.
Still, those were the only two runs off Hughes. But two runs were enough as Cano failed to capitalize on his opportunities.
With Ichiro Suzuki on first and one out in the opening inning, Cano got ahead 2-0 but then grounded into a double play. With Nix on first and no out in the fourth, Cano struck out, dropping a guy who usually handles lefties well down to .230 off southpaws. Cano walked in the seventh. But he was thrown out when he tried to advance after a pitch dribbled away from catcher Geovany Soto. It looked as if he did not break hard and fast, but Cano insisted, "I got a good break, the ball just bounced right back to (Soto)."
That was the only runner the Yanks managed in the final five innings. Obviously, that is not all Cano's fault. But when you are the last star standing and want to be paid in an A-Rod kind of way, the burden falls to you in a greater way.
joel.sherman@nypost.com
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