Alex Rodriguez wasn’t the only player in the middle of the lineup to have Raul Ibanez to thank after last night’s 3-2, 12-inning win over the Orioles in Game 3 of the ALDS.
Robinson Cano went 0-for-4 hitting fourth, behind Rodriguez, but Ibanez’s two-homers helped bail out both, as the Yankees moved to the brink of clinching.
Cano came into the game 0-for-6 against Baltimore starter Miguel Gonzalez, who despite being right-handed, tends to baffle lefty hitters, as well.
The rough night by the second baseman stood in stark contrast to the way he finished the regular season, when seemingly no one could get him out.
Over the Yankees’ last nine regular-season games, Cano went 24-for-39 and looked like the best hitter on the planet.
He had cooled off a bit in the postseason, though, even before last night. In the first two games of the series, Cano had a pair of doubles in eight at-bats, but he did have three RBIs.
Cano grounded out to second to start the bottom of the second and with no one on and one out in the fourth, he lifted a fly ball to left field.
And he was unable to come through with Ichiro Suzuki on first in the seventh, following a Rodriguez strikeout with one of his own.
Of course, the second baseman had plenty of company in making Gonzalez look like Cy Young.
Whether it was Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson or Eric Chavez, there was no shortage of potential big bats that were silenced by the little-known rookie.
But only one of those hitters came into the playoffs with six RBIs in the last game of the season and a near inability to make an out.
That’s why so much was placed on Cano’s shoulders heading into the postseason and why many thought he should bat third, in front of Rodriguez.
Those sentiments were only amplified by Rodriguez’s woes at the plate and the third baseman striking out to end Game 2 with Cano watching helplessly in the on-deck circle.
Cano, one of the few Yankees to hit against the Tigers in last year’s ALDS loss to Detroit, almost certainly will need to do more tonight if the Yankees want to eliminate the Orioles in four games.