Bronx, N.Y., April 13, 2006 — The Yanks piled it on with a five-run eighth inning Thursday afternoon, sweeping the Kansas City Royals out of town 9-3 in a game that had a split personality. The Yankees were very good, and hot right out of the box. Staff ace Randy Johnson threw early strikes, and retired the Royals quickly in the top of the first, coaxing two ugly third swings around a popup to short.

Royals righty Denny Bautista came out firing, and it had the look of a low-scoring game. Wednesday, Johnny Damon and Derek Jeter seemed to take their cue from the Royals’ top-of-the-first three-run explosion, working walks for needed baserunners in front of Gary Sheffield. Unfortunately, the pattern repeated Thursday, and Damon went down just as meekly as the visitors had, striking out on three pitces. Derek Jeter did better, but his 3-1 liner to right brought Shef up again, this time with two down and nobody on base.

Then it got weird. No, a storm didn’t suddenly pick up with winds whipping and lightning flashing. Obviously, Gary parking a 1-0, no-doubt-about-it, liner into the stands would need no assistance from the elements. The tracer was trademark Shef, over the wall before many in the crowd had a chance to react. The thing was, this one was hit to right field, landing just to the right of the Armitron sign in front of the right field bleachers. Having seen so many close-ups of Sheffield turning on a baseball, I felt that I had just witnessed someone defy gravity or some other essential pillar of science.

After A-Rod was walked and then picked off, Johnson picked up where he left off, and gave the team from the Midwest three quick frames during which they didn’t appear to stand a chance. The Unit struck out five through four, while allowing just a single to third baseman Esteban German. His control was exact, and he extended his 2006 inning total without allowing a walk to 21 frames. Mixing a 95 mph fastball with the slider in the low 80s, he missed bats often, coaxing 14 swings and misses, almost three an inning.

Young Batista, meanwhile, had trouble recovering from the Sheffield blast, and started the second inning by allowing three straight singles to Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui, and Bernie Williams, with Jason scoring on Bernie’s to give the Yankee vet the 1,200th rbi of his Yankee career. Robby Cano made it 3-0 with another bouncer up the middle, and then Kelly Stinnnett, in for Jorge Posada, moved the runners up with a good bunt. Damon was ready this time, and he delivered the Yanks’ fourth run with a long fly to left center.

But then, just as quickly as it had begun, the Yankee onslaught was over. Bautista was throwing smoke, and he struck out four of the next five, following the first three with a 97 mph fast ball that hit Giambi right on the side. The harder Bautista threw, it seemed, the more inside he came, and Jeter and Sheffield would both have to spin away from 96 mph pitches on their hands in the fifth. It was fortuitous for the Yanks that Bautista’s pitch count was mounting, because as he was getting sharper, something changed with Johnson in the fifth. The Royals came in contact with 19 of 62 pitches the first four innings as Randy continued to mix his hard stuff with the bender, but with two down in the fifth, they strung together their own three consecutive singles to close te gap to 4-1.

But Johnson wasn’t hit hard, as he started to throw more and more sliders. Doug Mientkiewicz’s liner to right that started it was stroked the best, and even it floated into the outfield. But the Royals were routinely swinging and missing the first four; in the fifth, they smacked 13 Johnson offerings. When Tony Graffanino’s liner into the right field corner settled into Sheffield’s glove to close the fifth, little did we know that Johnson would not be coming back out.

The Scoreboard made no announcement, and some shrugged it off that he left with a lead after a 25-pitch inning after retiring K.C. on an average 15 tosses the first four. We’ll have to await developments. Whatever the case, Bautista exited after five as well, and the game went to the bullpens. Although the differential in score didn’t change dramatically (Yankee pen 5-2 over four frames after Johnson had left up 4-1 though the first five) the crisply pitched contest was gone. All seven runs scored during the interminable two last frames, with Giambi and Damon homering for New York, and Graffanino for K.C. Scott Proctor pitched well, Mike Myers squelched a rally after allowing his first 2006 hit, and Tanyon Sturtze righted himself (after a visit from Torre) following a home run to his first batter.

This April 13, of course, was not a Friday, for those of a suspicious turn of mind. But it wasn’t in 1978 or 1998 either, and the bizarre trumped the routine in the Stadium this day in those two years. The first was Reggie Candy Bar Day, where fans received the treats with Reggie Jackson’s name and likeness on them entering the park, and then littered the field with them when Reggie homered his first time up. The Yanks took that game 4-2, but there was no game 20 years later, on April 13, 1998. During that afternoon, a beam fell in the left field Loge section of the Stadium before a scheduled night game, and we’d see no more baseball in the Bronx until it was repaired a week and a half later.

On Thursday, nothing as ominous as that took place. And although the fans did get a freebie (magnetc schedules), nobody threw them on the field even though the home team blasted three home runs.

Film director Stanley Donen was born April 13, 1924, and on his resume you would find the former Broadway musical brought to celluloid Damn Yankees. In it a player sells his soul to the devil, played by the late Ray Walston, as a character named Mr. Applegate. Suddenly the Senators could do no wrong against the Yankees. No evidence exists of any recent opposite deals with Mr. Applegate, but did I tell you that Shef slashed one to right field? Hmmm.

BTW,TYW

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!