Yankees 8 – Royals 3
KANSAS CITY – Last night’s Yankee battery had enough power in it to launch a space shuttle.
Randy Johnson danced with a no-hitter for six innings and Jorge Posada crushed a pair of three-run homers and picked a runner off third to fuel an 8-3 win over the putrid Royals in front of 16,421 at Kauffman Stadium.
Johnson faced the minimum 18 batters through six and watched his no-hit bid die on the soft grass in center when Johnny Damon couldn’t get to David DeJes
us’ sinking line drive off an 0-1 slider that skipped past Damon for a triple.
After Posada picked off DeJesus, a product of Rutgers, with the Royals trailing 5-0 Johnson finished the seventh inning and took a shower.
“I am not sure he wants to pitch a no-hitter at this point in time,” Yankee manager Joe Torre said of the soon-to-be 43-year-old Johnson, who is 16-10.
In the big picture, the Yankees didn’t want Johnson working deep into a game and spending pitches and energy he will need next month in the postseason.
Johnson, who fanned eight and walked two, wasn’t broken up over losing the no-hitter.
“The only reason I was out there was to see what happened,” said Johnson, who has won five of six and is displaying the form the Yankees must have in October. “At this point, going deep in games if the bullpen is rested, it’s not important to do that.”
Paired with the Red Sox losing the Yankees’ victory lowered their magic number to 15 and restored their AL East lead to nine games.
Derek Jeter went 2-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to 17 games, which ties a career-high. Jeter is hitting .344, one point behind AL leader Joe Mauer.
Ahead, 2-0 thanks to an RBI single from Melky Cabrera and Jeter’s RBI double, Posada crushed a three-run homer in the sixth that presented Johnson with a 5-0 bulge. After the no-hitter vanished, Posada struck another three-run blast that put the game out of reach.
“Jorge called a good game and did everything pretty much offensively,” Johnson said of his batterymate who abused Royals pitching for six hits in 12 at-bats, three homers and nine RBIs in three games. “The biggest play to me was the pickoff at third.”
Down by five after collecting the first and only hit off Johnson, DeJesus was inexcusably picked off third. Johnson walked Esteban German before Mark Grudzielanek chased Cabrera to the left-field wall.
That brought Torre to the mound. When he got on the hill, Johnson and Posada were chatting. Johnson then turned to Torre and said, “I can get this guy [Mike Sweeney] out.’ Without saying a word, Torre headed to the dugout.
Johnson proved he wasn’t lying by retiring Sweeney on a pop to second baseman Robinson Cano.
“My slider was my best pitch tonight,” said Johnson, who is 43-13 in September. “I was able to locate my fastball up and away.”
There were times when Johnson pushed the speed guns into the 95-96 mph range. But Torre has seen Johnson adjust to the situation instead of only relying on his fastball.
“Maybe velocity was more important to him, but in the last couple of years he realizes how important it is to pitch,” Torre said. “He can still control a game.”
