Robinson Cano hit the first pitch he saw into the seats tonight. A misplaced fastball was good for a two-run home run, and with it went any dream of consecutive no-hitters from Johan Santana. The next inning, Cano hit the second pitch he saw, a hanging slider, into the right field seats and the Yanks were out to a 4-0 lead. Nick Swisher followed and he ripped a home run to left, and not wanting to be left out of the festivities, Andruw Jones followed that with a bomb of his own.

It was enough to get the Yankee dugout fired up–especially Mr. Swisher (jeez, settle down, Francis)–not to mention the Yankee fans in the seats. It sure was more than enough for Hiroki Kuroda, who was terrific, throwing seven shutout innings. He allowed just a single base hit and that didn’t come until two out in the sixth.

Kuroda’s night ended on a strange play. Daniel Murphy hit a line drive that caught Kuroda’s foot and shot up in the air to Alex Rodriguez who made the catch to end the seventh. Kuroda had the foot wrapped and was sporting crutches after the game. Perhaps he could miss a start. He had x-rays and they were negative.

Just about everything else for the home team was positive.

Yanks take it, 9-1.

[Photo Credit: Aimeri]

Overheard on the subway this morning. Two teenage boys.

“The Mets are going to kill the Yankees this weekend.”

“Fuck you.”

“The Mets have more heart. The Yankees are overpriced and old.”

“Yeah, and they’re still better than your wack-ass Mets.”

“Fuck you.”

“Jealous.”

It was all set up. Freddy Garcia pitched a wonderful game and the Yanks led 2-1 going to the bottom of the ninth on a wet afternoon in Queens. Enter Sandman and the Great Mariano retired the first two batters.

That’s a wrap, right? The fans headed for the parking lot. But it’s not always that easy, even for the best. Jason Bay walked, Luke Duda singled and with two strikes Ronny Paulino slapped a cutter that didn’t cut far enough into right field and the game was tied.

Then, a ground ball went through Ramiro Pena’s legs:

Brett Gardner came up firing…

…and nailed Duda at the plate to send the game into extra innings.

But that was it for Mo and it came as no surprise with him gone, Jason Bay drove home the winning run for the home team in the bottom of the 10th. So the Yanks blow a chance for the sweep and the Mets head out to Los Angeles feeling better about themselves.

Final Score: Mets 3, Yanks 2.

As the Dude says, “That’s a bummer, man.” But these things happen, even to Rivera. So let’s not get un-Dude about anything. It was still a good weekend even if the Yanks couldn’t put the cherry on top. Tomorrow is another day.

Let’s Go Yank-ees!