NEW YORK (AP) ― Robinson Cano and Hiroki Kuroda have both rebounded from slow starts, two big reasons the New York Yankees are on such a merry roll.
Cano homered and drove in three runs to extend his recent tear, Kuroda took a shutout into the eighth inning and New York beat the Cleveland Indians 7-1 on Monday night.
Nick Swisher and Dewayne Wise also went deep for the homer-happy Yankees, who opened a seven-game homestand against the top two teams in the AL Central with their third consecutive victory and 13th in 16 games.
After winning an intense Subway Series across town against the Mets over the weekend, New York roughed up Josh Tomlin (3-5) early and breezed the rest of the way.
“Everything’s just real chill right now,” Swisher said. “Everything’s just real mellow. We’re having a good time.”
Cano hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning Sunday night at Citi Field and picked up right where he left off in this one. He smacked a two-run double in the first inning and a solo homer in the third to the short porch in right.
“It feels good. Everything is connecting,” said Cano, who raised his batting average with runners in scoring position to .164.
After slumping early this season, Cano has hit six of his 17 homers in the last eight games while increasing his overall average to .302. Earlier in the day, the three-time All-Star moved ahead of Texas second baseman Ian Kinsler in fan balloting for the American League squad.
“You can hold him down for a while, but he’s going to get hot,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
