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CLEVELAND — Before last night’s game, Kevin Youkilis called Robinson Cano “the best left-handed hitter in the game.”
Cano did his best to prove Youkilis right, but his hitting also put his new teammate in danger. In the fourth inning, the third baseman paid the price for hitting behind the red-hot Cano in the Yankees’ 14-1 victory over the Indians at Progressive Field, their third straight overall.
After Cano continued his domination of Cleveland pitching by homering off starter Carlos Carrasco, the right-hander plunked Youkilis high on the shoulder, earning an ejection from home plate umpire Jordan Baker.
“It doesn’t look good,” Youkilis said. “After a home run was given up and a ball is thrown at your head.”
The Indians’ right-hander was just coming off a six-game suspension he received for hitting Kansas City’s Billy Butler in 2011.
“It’s not smart,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
Carrasco has hardly been the only pitcher to have difficulty retiring Cano recently.
The second baseman, who has homered three times, doubled three times and driven in seven runs in the past two days, was once again in the middle of the Yankees’ offensive explosion.
Still, the lineup — which was a punch line until recently — has been about much more than just Cano in scoring 32 runs during the Yankees’ modest winning streak.
“In Detroit, I didn’t hit the ball out of the infield,” Cano said of the team’s previous stop. “I wasn’t making real good contact. … But it’s not about how I’m hitting right now. It’s about winning games.”
His two-run shot in the fourth gave Andy Pettitte and the Yankees a 7-0 lead and Carrasco immediately answered by drilling Youkilis and being tossed. Tonight’s scheduled starter, Brett Myers, relieved Carrasco, leaving the Indians with a decision to make about tonight’s starter.
Cano wasn’t done, however, adding an RBI double in the eighth.
“We’ve seen him hit some balls the last two days, I don’t know how you can hit them any harder,” Girardi said.
But Cano can only drive in runs if his teammates get on base. Last night, the Yankees pounded out 18 hits, five of them home runs.
Brett Gardner joined Cano with four hits. And Lyle Overbay and Brennan Boesch each hit his first homer with the Yankees.
“There are a lot of guys in that offense that weren’t here last year,” Girardi said. “A lot of them got here with five days to go in spring training.”
Overbay was one of them.
Pettitte did his part, allowing just a home run by Asdrubal Cabrera in the sixth. He lasted seven innings and has given up one run in each of his two starts to go to 2-0.
“We aren’t used to losing,” Pettitte said of the team’s 1-4 start. “We’re going to have bad weeks. We’re going to lose some games. But if we stay healthy, we’re going to score some runs.”
Gardner knocked in two of his own in a four-run second, all of them coming with two outs.
Ichiro Suzuki even homered for the first time on the road as a Yankee.
As for Youkilis, he ended up getting some revenge in his next at bat when he hit a two-run shot off Myers in the sixth, making it 9-0.
“It’s always good to get a home run in that kind of situation,” Youkilis said. “But I wasn’t worried about that. It’s just good to be winning some games.”
If Cano keeps up the surge he’s been on the last two days, Youkilis may have to worry about more pitches being aimed at him.