Honesty and wishful thinking spilled out of Jim Leyland’s mouth early yesterday morning and filled the Tiger manager’s office at Yankee Stadium.
“As we sit here, we don’t have the firepower the Yankees do,” Leyland said of the hosts — even though they again were without Alex Rodriguez.
Then Robinson Cano proved Leyland prophetic, as he helped the Yankees — fueled by a nine-run sixth inning — overpower the Tigers and Rick Porcello with an 11-5 victory in front of 48,143 in the sun-washed Bronx.
Hitting cleanup with Rodriguez missing a third game because of a calf cramp, Cano went 3-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs.
“He has stepped in the four-hole and has done a good job,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said of Cano, who singled and scored in the fourth, and provided an RBI double and two-run homer in that nine-run sixth that put the game out of reach and chased Porcello.
Porcello, a Seton Hall Prep product, gave up six runs and six hits in five innings and fell to 5-11.
Depending on the Rays-A’s result in Oakland last night, the Yankees moved into first place by themselves or remained tied with Tampa Bay in the AL East.
Yankees starter Phil Hughes benefited from the offensive orgy and improved to 15-5.
In six innings, the right-hander gave up two runs, four hits, fanned six and didn’t issue a walk.
Pitching coach Dave Eiland said removing Hughes after 84 pitches had nothing to do with the innings limit — believed to be 170 to 175 — that has been placed on Hughes since spring training.
“I don’t know what it is, but if it’s under 180, I am in good shape,” said Hughes, who has worked 140 2/3 innings.
Sergio Mitre hurled the final three frames for a save despite giving up three runs and six hits.
Of the three trade-deadline deals executed by GM Brian Cashman, two have been very productive.
Kerry Wood, who was not needed yesterday, has provided a middle-innings weapon from the bullpen. Austin Kearns, who batted eighth as the DH yesterday and went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, has been productive despite uneven playing time. Lance Berkman, the biggest name of the trio, has struggled at the plate and went on the DL with a sprained ankle yesterday.
Kearns, after stranding two runners in the fourth with a harmless fly to center, crushed a two-run double in the sixth and singled in the seventh.
“His at-bats have been really good,” Girardi said of the righty-hitting outfielder, who is batting .355 (11-for-31) in pinstripes. “That always doesn’t translate into hits.”
The Yankees are 3-0 without Rodriguez, and won their first series since taking three of four from the Indians in Cleveland (July 26-29).
“In our division, you have to win series, because it’s a tough division,” Girardi said.
That’s obvious since, when play started yesterday, the Yankees and Rays were tied for first place with the best records (74-46) in baseball.
Rodriguez worked in the batting cage yesterday. His re-entry into the lineup will be as a DH. But since he hasn’t tested the calf by running, Girardi didn’t know when his leading RBI producer (97) would return.
“We got big hits from a lot of people,” Girardi said.
“Austin’s big hit got a big inning going, and we had a couple of 3-0 hits [RBI singles by Nick Swisher and Jorge Posada]. Our guys are picking up the slack.”