Cut Out the Middle Man

The Yankees scored early and late in drubbing the Kansas City Royals tonight, 9-2. Roger Clemens threw 7 strong innings to earn his 3rd win, and the Yankees bats continued to sizzle. The win was the team's 52nd and put them 6 games over .500 for the first time this season.

The Bombers put two aboard in the 1st on a Melky Cabrera walk and Derek Jeter's single. Royals starter Odalis Perez retired Alex Rodriguez on a ground out that moved the runners up, and then Godzilla attacked. The red hot Hideki Matsui singled up the middle to give the Yankees a 2-0 lead.

In the 2nd, singles by Robinson Cano and Shelley Duncan put 2 on with 1 out for Johnny Damon. Damon (7-16 over the last 4 games) continued his resurrection with 3 hits, including a double that scored both runners.

With a 4-0 lead, the Rocket was dealing. He allowed a single base runner, a base hit by Tony Pena Jr., through the first 3, before allowing a run on a wild pitch in the 4th. He gave up a solo home run to Ross Gload in the 7th, but allowed just 4 hits on the night.

Luis Vizcaino grabbed on tightly to the reins as 8th inning set up man, retiring the side in order and striking out 2. With Mariano Rivera warming for a save situation, the Yankees blew the game open in the 9th.

Damon, Cabrera, and A-Rod stroked consecutive singles off of Ryan Z. Braun (not to be confused with the Brewer's slugger) to extend the lead to 5-2. It was A-Rod's 100th RBI in the Yankees' 98th game. Manager Buddy Bell sent for lefty Jimmy Gobble to face the Yankees lefties and switch-hitters. But Matsui walked to load the bases, and Jorge Posada ripped a 2-run single through the left side. Cano, who already had 2 hits, hit a sacrifice fly to center field, and a final run came home when 2nd Baseman Mark Grudzelaniek dropped Andy Phillips' routine pop up.

Mariano sat down and Ron Villone came on to close things out for the Yankees 4th consecutive win.

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The Yankees remain 7.5 out in the AL East, but since Boston beat Cleveland, they now trail the Indians by 5.5 (5 in the loss column) in the wild card.

The Yankees must want to keep their calendars pinned to July for the rest of the year. Hideki Matsui is 30-87 (.345) in July, with 9 HRs and 19 RBI in 21 games. Robinson Cano, who shared AL Player of the Week honors with B.J. Upton, has 8 multiple hit games in his last 9 games played. Cano is hitting .383 this month (31-81) with 5 HRs and 18 RBI. Melky Cabrera is hitting .363. Bobby Abreu, who had the night off, is at .370 with 22 RBI.

Alex Rodriguez is hitting just .247 for the month, but now has 6 HR and 21 RBI.

Roger Clemens had 3 strikeouts to increase his career total to 4,641. The win was the 351st of his career.

Luis Vizcaino now has a 1.04 ERA since June 1. That's 3 earned runs in 26 innings pitched.

Scott Proctor missed the game due to the birth of his son Cooper. He'll be back on Wednesday. Joe Torre must be beside himself without being able to Proctor in the game.

With the St. Louis Cardinals having an off day, Shelley Duncan's dad Dave, the Cards' pitching coach, and brother/left fielder Chris were in attendance, along with other members of Duncan's family.

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