Andy Pettitte has seen Robinson Cano’s
left-handed swing for so long that he can almost tell when a hot streak is
coming.
Cano hit two home runs and Pettitte
broke Whitey Ford's club record for career strikeouts to help New York snap a
five-game skid with a 10-4 victory against the Minnesota Twins.
Cano also had a double, a walk and
three RBI for the Yankees, who totaled 13 runs during their losing streak.
The way Cano was launching balls all
over Target Field on Monday night, Pettitte thinks another tear is right around
the corner, and not a moment too soon for the struggling offense.
Zoilo Almonte had three hits and two
RBI as the slumbering Yankees offense woke up with seven runs in the last two
innings to reach double digits for the first time since May 10.
Struggling reliever (1-6) gave up
three runs and three hits while getting only one out for the Twins, who coughed
up another eighth-inning lead.
"We're not that team anymore
that we used to have the guys that we could say, 'This guy might hit two home
runs in the next inning,' " Cano said. "So we've just got to take
advantage when we get men on base."
"It's impressive,"
Pettitte said, marveling at Cano's 435-foot solo shot in the first inning and
an opposite-field homer in the third. "Hopefully he can keep it going. But
what a talent he is. It's fun to watch him hit."
Pettitte allowed four runs and six
hits in five innings. Scott Diamond gave up two earned runs and seven hits with
five strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings for the Twins, who took a 4-3 lead into the eighth
thanks to a solo homer by the sixth.
Cano, however, had more in store for
Minnesota. "Tough out," Diamond said.
"He kind of spoiled it for us tonight."
Burton, an effective setup man since
joining the Twins last season, was shaky again. He gave up a double to Cano to
start the eighth, then couldn't get speedy on a bunt single. Burton tried to
pick off Suzuki at first base, but his throw sailed past and allowed Cano to score and tie
the game.
Almonte followed with his go-ahead
single past a drawn-in infield, and New York cruised from there.
The Yankees haven't looked much like
the Yankees of late, running out relatively no-name lineups filled with
youngsters and journeymen while their stars mend on the disabled list. They had
lost 13 of their previous 18 to fall into fourth place in the AL East, and
Pettitte looked nothing like the consistent lefty he has been for most of 18
seasons in the early going Monday night.
"You hope that the hard work
that they've been putting in starts to pay off," Girardi said. "Maybe
this is the start of something."
Cano's second homer of the night, a
two-run shot to left field, tied the score 3-all in the third, and Pettitte
made some more history in the fifth. He began the night needing two strikeouts
to pass Ford for the Yankees record.