On a skid that had brought four losses in five games the Yankees needed a strong performance from Randy Johnson to reverse the negative momentum that was built up in Canada. And the Unit responded, striking out seven in six innings and holding the potent Ranger offense to two runs in a soothing 6-2 victory Monday night.
The Yankees needed that kind of slump halting performance from the lefthander who was brought to town to be an ace. Johnson was animated and intense all night, pumping his mid-90's fastball by Texas hitters and gesturing in appreciation of Jorge Posada's pitch-calling, a refreshing change from their earlier difficulties working together. The Unit's pitches sliced through the humid air time and again before giving way to the bullpen who strung together three outstanding innings. Scott Proctor, Kyle Farnsworth and the great one threw an inning apiece to finish what Randy started with the same aggressiveness and success.
Offensively, the Yankees got three hits from leadoff hitter Melky Cabrera - Johnny Damon missed the game with a strained back - and two RBI from Miguel Cairo while the established hitting heroes, A-Rod and Jeter, each had a RBI. More importantly, it was a mistake-free game with the glove for the embattled A-Rod, who made some interesting comments following the game. We'll get to those in a later post, though. Aaron Guiel hit a long home run as well, rounding out the Bomber offense while Cabrera made a big play in the bottom of the fifth when he nailed Mark Teixeira trying to stretch a single into a double, killing a Texas rally with a runner on third and two out keeping the Yankee lead at 4-2. A run in each of the next two innings made it a comfortable Yankee win.
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