Bronx, N.Y., June 26, 2006 — The Yankees seemed intent on erasing any trace of Sunday night’s listless 5-0 shutout at the hands of the Florida Marlins as they stormed out to an early 5-0 lead Monday against Tim Hudson and the Atlanta Braves. Buoyed by the unexpected cool breeze that kept the ugly rain-soaked clouds at bay all evening, many fans seemed to be there to celebrate Captain Derek Jeter’s birthday. And even though most of the hitting stopped early, this was a game that allowed the Bombers to put a few bad things temporarity behind them.

First and foremost among the positive aspects, of course, was the superb though perplexing performance by Randy Johnson in the 5-2 Yankee win. It was like he sent the anti-Randy out there to get a quick lead so the real deal could show up and put on some later touches. While righty Hudson was giving lessons on why high early-inning pitch counts are not a starter’s friend, Johnson was striking out just one and retiring nine Braves around two singles on just 25 throws. True, he got a little help when Derek Jeter took Jorge Posada’s strong peg and swiped a tag onto Atlanta left fielder Matt Diaz attempting to steal to close the second, but The Unit was firmly in control.

It wasn’t “Unit Lite,” though. Randy started Marcus Giles off on the game’s first pitch with a 93-mph fastball, and he pounded another at 95 and two more at 94 before the first frame came to a close. Whether or not Johson was aware that 12 very disciplined fans were standing in the deepest seats in the right field bleachers, next to the black seats in center, displaying R-A-N-D-Y-J-O-H-N-S-O-N on individual placards I can’t say, but he pitched like he was.

Given an early lead on two Jason Giambi home runs, Johnson dominated with an equal mix of his hard fastball and killer slider early. On the night his 77/29 strikes/balls ratio was excellent, and no Braves batter could get comfortable as Randy pored across 21 of 26 first-pitch strikes. He maintained his accuracy, but switched tactics in the fifth, giving the Braves batters a steady diet of sliders and mixing in heat. He garnered all but one of the last eight outs that got him through seven on seven K’s (bringing his total to nine, with no walks, and just four singles). With just four swinging strikes early, Johnson finished with 18, but he paid for the increase in K’s with a skyrocketing pitch count. Whiffs of Wilson Betemit (in the fifth) and Todd Pratt and Giles (both in the sixth) cost him 25 pitches alone, 20 of them strikes.

Another cloud hanging over the team was last night’s hamstring injury to consistent hitter Robinson Cano. How long the line-drive stroking second baseman will be out, I can’t say, but Miguel Cairo filled in admirably. He made a nice grab of a pop to short center in the third, and almost reached on a drag bunt toward second that moved Johnny Damon into scoring position in the sixth. Even better, he started the game by stealing a Giles base-hit bid up the middle with a Jeter-like wheel-and-throw, a high-hopping toss that Andy Phillips was able to corral.

Which brings up another good thing. The talk going into 2006 was that Jason Giambi’s bat would suffer as DH, that he would have to play first to be productive. That trend hasn’t continued this season, and he put this game away early, really, with home runs for five runs in the first two frames. Jason had a particularly bad game in the field Sunday night, but he demonstrated that he is a team player by not bringing that up with him as he batted as DH Monday. Not only did this get Andy Phillips’s glove into the game, but his bat too. Phillips took a close sinker for ball four in the first, singled to left in the third, doubled to the gap in left in the fifth, and made Andruw Jones look every bit an overmatched centerfielder when Andy’s booming straightway, dead-center shot in the seventh got past him. Phillips coasted into third standing. Unfortunately, with the Yanks adding just one single to Phillips’s post-second-inning outburst, he got to neither score nor drive in any runs for his trouble.

Johnson made a nice play on a bouncer back to him in the seventh, but the best Yankee play of the game was one Renteria legged out for a hit in the sixth. We who have been rooting for this team for the last decade owe a lot to the unmatched Captain Derek Jeter, and even a baseball-crusty fan like myself thrilled at all the great signs fans displayed honoring the birthday of the only Yankee shortstop a great many of today’s Yankee enthusiasts have ever known. Derek singled before Giambi’s first homer in the first, and walked before the three-run blast the next inning. But Jeets’ best moment was a fabulous attempt at a hail mary pass on Renteria’s hard bouncer into the hole. First base ump Sam Holbrook signaled safe, but that call doesn’t change the fact that it was a play very few manning that position could even attempt.

Jeter became the starter at shortstop 11 seasons ago when he was just 21. That makes him 32 this day, but it turns out that number played a significant part in this game. Tim Hudson throws a hard sinker, and he was a difficult Yankee opponent in his five years in Oakland before he went to the Braves last year. I don’t think the Yanks have ever faced him in a start like this one.

Mr. Hudson threw 96 pitches this night. He retired nine of 12 Yankee batters on 32 tosses from the third through the fifth innings. That’s a good number. But he also threw 32 times in the first and retired just three of eight Yankees. It took him 32 again to close the second, this time retiring three of seven. In both frames he threw just 15 strikes, and missed 17 times each. And two of the times he found the zone, so did Giambi.

BTW,TYW

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!