In a game where every player that approached the plate had at least one hit (yes, even Adam Dunn), the Yankees pushed across 18 runs and outlasted the Chicago White Sox, 18-7. With the win, the Yankees improved to 67-42 on the season and remain within a game of the Boston Red Sox in the American League East. This is the first time they've been 25 games over .500 this season. Chicago falls to 52-57 with the loss.
There were a number of highlights offensively for the Yanks. In the first inning, Cano clobbered a three-run home run over the right field wall after a sacrifice-fly by Mark Teixeira to give the Bombers a quick 4-0 lead. Curtis Granderson's two-run triple in the second inning would extend that lead to 6-1. Needless to say, Gavin Floyd was generous tonight.
The third inning was where the Yankees really put this one out of reach. Eric Chavez hit his first home run of the season, Derek Jeter had a two-run single, Teixeira hit a two-run triple, and Cano roped an RBI single to give New York an insurmountable 13-1 lead.
Of course, with Allan James Burnett pitching, even a twelve run lead isn't always enough. After working around five hits and a sacrifice-fly in the first three innings, Burnett was simply showing that he didn't have his best stuff. After two RBI singles by Brent Morel and Juan Pierre, Carlos Quentin crushed one over the left field wall to bring the score to 13-6. A.J. Pierzynski would add an RBI double in the fifth to tag Burnett with another earned run.
Burnett's final line: 4.1 innings, 13 hits, seven earned runs, three strikeouts. The thirteen hits he allowed were the most in his career. Surprisingly, he didn't walk a single batter. That's probably a first, also.
To cap off the scoring in this game, Granderson and Chavez would each add two-run singles in the seventh inning and Granderson would tack on yet another RBI double in the eighth.
New York's bullpen went into complete shutdown mode after Burnett was removed from the game. Cory Wade, Luis Ayala and Rafael Soriano combined for 4.2 innings of one hit ball. Soriano had the lone strikeout in his one inning of work.
Here are some unbelievable stats from tonight:
1) Derek Jeter went 5-6. It's the fourth time he's ever had five hits in a game, the last obviously being July 9th of this year against Tampa Bay. Oh, and the only time he was retired was when he scorched a liner to first base.
2) The Yankees had a .460 batting average (23 for 50).
3) Brett Gardner, Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Robinson Cano and Eric Chavez combined for 18 hits, 15 RBI, and 13 runs scored.
Comment of the Game: Jedi Master A-Rod