Bronx, NY—The Yanks outlasted the Baltimore Orioles, 11-10, in a marathon slugfest that saw 11 pitchers surrender 21 runs and 29 hits. The victory raised the Yanks major league leading day game mark to 38-9 (.809).
The first of the seven round trippers was hit by Nick Markakis with two out in the first inning.
Mark Teixeira slugged his 36th home run of the 2011 campaign to tie the score with two out in the bottom of the frame. A single by Andruw Jones gave the Yankees a 2-1 advantage at the end of the inning.
In the 44 minutes of the second inning, 20 batters came to the plate 14 reached base and 10 scored. The Orioles scored four to go ahead, 5-2, but the Yanks countered with six runs. The big blow was the third grand slam of the 2011 season by Robinson Cano. The hot hitting second sacker raised his hitting streak to nine straight games, 26 of the last 27. His .348 batting average during that span upped his season average to .307. Cano, a contender for the American League MVP Award, has hit 40 doubles, six triples 24 homers and has driven in 105 runs.
The Yankees other offensive star of the game was rookie Jesus Montero. In only his fourth game in the majors, Montero blasted two home runs, a solo homer in the fifth and a two-run homer in the seventh. He became the first Yankee to hit his first two homers in the same contest since Shane Spencer in 1998. Each of the homers was received an ovation that called for a curtain call.
Yankee manager Joe Girardi, without being too optimistic, expressed his happiness with Montero’s performance since joining the club, “We’ve always said this kid has a lot of power all over the field. We’re going to see what this kid can do. We’re not going to get too giddy after one game or too down.”
Although Montero has, thus far, only played as designated hitter, Girardi explained, “The kid made a lot of progress as a catcher this year. We project him as a catcher, but with where we are right now, it’s tough to put him back there.”
The 21 year old spoke of his joy after the contest, “I’m really happy now. It was an amazing day. I was dreaming of that [curtain calls] before. I’m going to try to help my team win.” Montero drove in the final three runs for the Yankees, including the game winner.”