Darryl Strawberry arrived early to Yankee Stadium tonight hoping to work on his swing. After being benched a few days ago because of a slump, he was dropped to seventh in the lineup yesterday for the first time in his career.
Hitting coach Chris Chambliss discovered in batting practice that Strawberry was too close to the plate, prohibiting him from extending his arms. ”Before the game, Darryl came by me and said, ‘I think I’ve found it,’ ” Cecil Fielder said. (Via NY Times)
Well, Strawberry definitely found it, evidenced by his three home runs in tonight’s 9-2 Yankees win over the White Sox. Strawberry’s last three-homer game came with the Mets in August of 1985.
He credited tonight’s success to the adjustments hitting coach Chris Chambliss made prior to the game, as well as being relaxed and not trying to do too much. “To be honest, I wasn’t up there trying to hit home runs,” Strawberry said. “I was just trying to hit the ball hard. It’s really about being patient. I hadn’t been here this whole year, and I think I was putting too much pressure on. I just needed to be more relaxed.” (Via NY Times)
Kenny Rogers was relaxed, too, as he tossed eight innings of two-run ball. The Yankees got on the board in the second when Strawberry launched a solo shot off White Sox starter Kevin Tapani to tie the game at one. Back-to-back doubles by Derek Jeter and Wade Boggs, followed by a Paul O’Neill single, put New York up 3-1 in the third and allowed Rogers to go to work.
Strawberry’s second homer came in the fourth, and his third came in the fifth – which highlighted a five run inning for the Yankees. Cecil Fielder went 1-for-4 in his Yankee Stadium debut, and was excited about the atmosphere of his new home ballpark, especially on the curtain call for Strawberry. ”I was geeked,” Fielder said. ”It was a rush. When the fans are going like that, you’re going to get a little over-geeked.” (Via NY Times)
The Yankees are now 67-44 on the season, and still hold a 10 game lead over Baltimore in the division. Dwight Gooden starts against Alex Fernandez tomorrow.
Box score and current stats
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
White Sox 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 7 0
Yankees 0 1 2 1 5 0 0 0 X 9 13 0
Batting AB R H RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG
Jeter SS 5 2 3 0 0 1 .309 .371 .423
Boggs 3B 4 1 3 1 0 0 .313 .389 .396
ONeill RF 4 1 2 2 0 0 .307 .423 .467
Fielder DH 4 0 1 0 0 1 .249 .356 .482
Martinez 1B 3 1 0 0 1 0 .294 .355 .451
B.Williams CF 4 1 1 2 0 0 .302 .385 .522
Strawberry LF 4 3 3 4 0 0 .238 .347 .500
G.Williams LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 .284 .333 .455
Duncan 2B 3 0 0 0 0 0 .331 .345 .474
Fox 2B 1 0 0 0 0 1 .199 .284 .265
Girardi C 4 0 0 0 0 0 .313 .366 .387
2B:Jeter (18);Boggs (21)
HR:Strawberry 3 (6).
RBI:Strawberry 4 (17);O'Neill 2 (64);
B.Williams 2 (72);Boggs (29).
Pitching IP H R ER BB SO ERA
Rogers W (9-5) 8 6 2 2 4 4 4.39
Mecir 1 1 0 0 0 1 5.34
