Yankees Rip Twins, 12-4
NEW YORK _ It’s hard enough to play at Yankee Stadium when it’s half full. On Monday, a sellout crowd crammed into the 85-year-old structure.
So there was a full ballpark, ghosts of Yankees past whispering from the monuments behind the left-field wall and future Hall of Famers in the home dugout. It was all more than enough to keep the hair on an opposing pitcher’s neck standing at attention all night.
For Nick Blackburn, all night meant five outs during the Twins’ 12-4 loss.
The Yankees thumped Blackburn on their way to scoring eight runs in the first three innings and cruised to their fourth consecutive victory following the All-Star break. Alex Rodriguez, Robinson Cano and Derek Jeter hit home runs.
Blackburn’s previous start was July 13 and the Twins juggled their rotation after the break, creating an eight-day layoff. Was he a victim of too much rest? Many pitchers in the league are starting with extra rest after the break. He struggled to figure out umpire Mike Everitt’s strike zone but also made several fat pitches to a lineup of accomplished hitters.
A bad 1-0 pitch to Rodriguez in the first turned into a two-run homer to center. Then the Yankees slapped Blackburn’s pitches all over in the second inning, forcing Twins manager Ron Gardenhire to replace him after New York took a 6-2 lead.
It wasn’t all Blackburn’s fault. The Yankees loaded the bases with one out in the second. Johnny Damon grounded to Alexi Casilla at second but he bounced a throw home as he tried to force out Melky Cabrera and was charged with an error. New York scored three more runs on an RBI single by Jeter, fielder’s choice by Bobby Abreu and infield hit by Rodriguez.
The inning got away from the Twins after Casilla’s error, but giving up seven hits over 1 2/3 innings means Blackburn did a lot of things Gardenhire warned against before the game.
“You’ve got to be able to control the situation in this stadium,” Gardenhire said. “We have seen that over the years because it starts building. Those big rallies start happening and you have to be able to step back _ especially our young pitching staff _ step back and make a quality pitch here.”
The Yankees led 6-2 after the second inning, got two more in the third in taking the Twins out of the game. Boof Bonser gave up four runs, including solo homers by Cano and Jeter, over 3 innings. New York scored three more runs in the sixth and one more in the eighth.
In the end, the Twins bussed back to their hotel saddled with the sad realization that they have lost twice to Sidney Ponson in one season.
Ponson wiggled out of a two-on, one-out jam in the first inning and fell behind plenty of Twins hitters, He was replaced by Edwar Ramirez with two out and two on in the sixth, but the announced crowd of 53,484 at Yankee Stadium gave him a standing ovation as he walked toward the dugout. He even doffed his cap as he reached the top step.
A year ago, Ponson lasted only seven starts with the Twins before they released him.
This year, he lasted nine starts with Texas _ including two against the Twins, beating them with a complete game on May 21 _ before he talked his way out of town.
Now he’s cheered in the Bronx.
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(c) 2008, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
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