You know the Yankees’ lineup is deep when their No. 9 hitter has posted a .375 on-base percentage and a .714 slugging percentage in the playoffs so far.
Especially when that guy doesn’t even play every day.
But this is what the Yankees have in Kenny Lofton: a.k.a., K-Lo; a.k.a., the Yankees’ valuable designated hitter. Yes, the Yankees have Jeter and A-Rod, Sheffield and Matsui, Posada and Bernie. But what also makes their relentless offense so dangerous is a player like Lofton, who continues to contribute whenever he gets his chance.
“I just try to go out there,” he said, “and whatever opportunities I get, I try to make the best of it.”
Like in Game 1 on Tuesday night, when Joe Torre gave Lofton the start at DH against Curt Schilling. Lofton struck out in the second inning but came back two frames later to draw a walk against the Sox’s ace righty.
Then Lofton came up again in the sixth, this time leading off against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.
“I was trying to get on base,” Lofton said. “Knuckleball, you can’t predict what the ball’s going to do.”
Maybe not, but on a 2-2 pitch, Lofton gave Wakefield’s knuckler a ride, pulling a drive down the right-field line. The ball curled inside the foul pole, splashing down in the stands for Lofton’s first playoff homer this year and his third career LCS round-tripper.
“I didn’t know it was going to stay fair,” he said. “It straightened out.”
Lofton is 2-for-7 with a walk in the playoffs, and although eight plate appearances is a rather small sample, his performance nevertheless gets magnified because it’s the postseason. Quite simply, Lofton is getting the job done, and that, in addition to his career .317 average (13-for-41) against Pedro Martinez, had him in the lineup again last night.
On the flip side, Lofton’s emergence meant Ruben Sierra had to sit again. Sierra smashed one of the biggest hits of the ALDS against the Twins when he swatted his game-tying three-run blast in Game 4, but has hit .167 (2-for-12) in the playoffs. Torre also likes having Sierra available to come off the bench and provide some pinch-hitting pop.
After Lofton’s Game 1 heroics, he dressed at his locker and said, “I had the opportunity to contribute and it was big.”
Not bad for the last guy in the lineup.
