Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Alfonso Soriano is a king among men! For some players, 13 RBIs in one week is a very good week, for others, 13 RBIs in one month is also very good, for Soriano, 13 RBIs in a two game span, now that's irregular.

"It's not bad," Soriano joked. "You don't see those days. I have to take those days, because it's not easy sometimes getting one RBI in one game. And I got 13 in two games. So I'm very excited, very happy."

Soriano tied his career-high on Tuesday night with six RBIs and a pair of homeruns in the Yankees 14-7 win, and afterwards, you would figure he would be able to top himself. Wrong.

Soriano didn't just follow up with another good night, he followed up with a great night! He came up in the first inning with the bases loaded, and brought everyone home with his 5th career grand slam, putting the Yanks up 4-0 on Jered Weaver.

He was back at it again in the 2nd inning, after Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson singled home a run apiece, Soriano ripped a two-run double down the left field line, turning the game into a blowout, at 8-0.

Then in the 5th, having already tied his total and career-high from Tuesday night, Soriano set himself a new-career high, leading off the 5th with his second homerun of the game, a no doubt about it blast to left field, for his 7th RBI of the game.

"Here, it's like more motivation," said Soriano. "All the players, they want to win. When you put the Yankees uniform on, you know what it's all about. It's all about wins. That's all I take to the game every night."

Soriano is the first Yankees player since Alex Rodriguez back on October 4th, 2009 in Tampa Bay against the Rays to drive in seven runs in one game.

"We just were laughing," Cano said. "That's unbelievable. You see a guy that had six RBIs yesterday and seven tonight, that's an awesome game. That's every player's dream. Every time you have men on base, you want to be able to at least get a single, and he got a home run. That was really good."

Soriano was the only Yankee who had as good night at the plate, because Cano was also locked in, going 4-for-4, passing Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto (1,588) for sole possession of 15th place on the all-time franchise hits list.

All this run support came to the benefit of Ivan Nova, who taken the loss in two of his last four games because the Yankees were shutout in the game. Nova didn't have his best stuff, he seemed to be a little complacent on the mound, knowing he had such a big lead.

But overall, Nova had another good outing, pitching at least seven inning for the seventh straight outing, going eight strong, to become the first non-CC Sabathia Yankees pitcher to complete seven innings in seven straight starts since David Cone in 1998.

Nova left to a standing ovation with one-out and a runner on first base in the 8th inning. Lost in the Soriano magic, Nova gave up three runs on 10 hits, while striking out six without walking a single batter on 110 pitches.

"I haven't pitched with a lead like that in a long time," Nova said. "It feels really good. If the hitters start getting hot, it's a good sign for us."

Preston Claiborne was brought into to relieve Nova, as well as finish off the game. He easily got the last two outs of the 8th, and would eventually get the final three outs of the game, and after Chris Stewart tacked on two more runs with a single in the 7th, the Yankees would go on to win 11-3.

With one more game left on this homestand, Phil Hughes will take the mound for the Yankees, facing off against Angels left-hander CJ Wilson, as the Yanks look for their 5th straight win before heading off to boston for the weekend. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. EST.

"You want to just continue with this momentum," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "We know we have our work cut out for us. We're playing a lot of the teams that are in front of us. We're in our division a lot going down the stretch here. You just try to ride this as long as you can."

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