NEW YORK — Curtis Granderson hit a
pair of homers, Alex Rodriguez drove in three runs – the last when he
was hit with a pitch on the hand – and the New York Yankees waited out a
lengthy rain delay to beat the Kansas City Royals 12-6 on Sunday and
finish another successful homestand.
Rodriguez will take his pursuit of 600
home runs on the road, after failing to reach the milestone for the
third straight day. New York plays four games in Cleveland beginning
Monday, then three more at Tampa Bay before returning home to face
Toronto on Aug. 2.
A-Rod grounded out in the second
inning, hit an RBI double in the fourth and grounded out again in the
fifth – moments before heavy rains drove off most of the crowd, along
with the oppressive heat and humidity that has hovered over New York
City lately.
The few thousand fans who waited out a
delay of 2 hours, 32 minutes, watched Rodriguez drive in another run in
the seventh, then come to the plate with the bases loaded in the
eighth. A-Rod fell behind in the count against reliever Blake Wood and,
with the crowd on its feet, wound up getting hit near the left wrist and
falling to the dirt in the batter's box.
Manager Joe Girardi and a team trainer
ran out to check on him, and Rodriguez was replaced by a pinch runner
as the Yankees pushed across five extra runs in the inning.
Phil Hughes (12-3) didn't return after
the rain delay but still earned the win, despite needing 95 pitches to
get through 5 1/3 innings in another shaky start.
Robinson Cano drove in a pair of runs
with two hits, giving him 1,000 for his career, while Derek Jeter added
three hits and an RBI. Mark Teixeira and Brett Gardner also drove in
runs.
Scott Podsednik was the bright spot
for Kansas City, not only Sunday but throughout the series. He hit a
pair of two-run homers for his third career multihomer game, and
finished 9-for-19 over the four games with six RBIs and four stolen
bases.
The Yankees gave themselves a big
cushion early against Sean O'Sullivan (1-1), who beat them on Tuesday
night as a member of the Los Angeles Angels.
He was traded to the Royals on
Thursday, allowing him to become the first big league pitcher since the
late Cory Lidle in 2004 to make starts against the same opponent within
six days of each other while throwing for different clubs, according to
the Elias Sports Bureau.
O'Sullivan only allowed two hits over
six innings Tuesday night, and set down the first six batters he faced
in order on Sunday. Granderson finally figured him out, though, leading
off the third by driving a 3-1 pitch into the bullpen in right field.
The Yankees wound up scoring four
times in the third inning, and after Rick Ankiel got one back with a
homer in the fourth, Granderson went deep again in the bottom half.
His two-homer game followed two home
runs by Teixeira on Saturday, making him the sixth different New York
player with a multihomer game this season.
Notes
Podsednik pushed his hitting
streak to 12 straight games. … Teixeira extended his streak of
reaching base to a career high 41 games. It's the longest run for the
Yankees since A-Rod did it in 53 consecutive in 2004. … It was
umbrella giveaway day at Yankee Stadium for the first 18,000 fans. Many
popped them open during the rain delay.