Bronx, N.Y., August 14, 2006 — There were strange undercurrents blowing through Yankee Stadium while a cool summer breeze wafted through the big crowd Monday night. On the surface the Yankees played and won an entertaining battle with Anaheim, squaring their four-game set at two wins apiece. Yankee lefty Randy Johnson outdueled righthander John Lackey, and the home team came away with a 7-2 victory that was much closer than that score would have you believe.

But in some ways, this game wasn’t close at all. Anaheim threatened early when shortstop Orlando Cabrera sped around to third on a Jorge Posada throwing error on a stolen base attempt once he had reached with two down in the first on a phantom hit by pitch. But usual fan whipping boy Alex Rodriguez got a hand when he made a nice play on Vladimir Guerrero’s bouncer toward the third base bag to close the frame with no score.

The Yanks went quietly in the bottom half, the only one, two, three inning of the game until the top of the eighth. Although not as sharp as he was through six innings of no-hit ball last time out, The Big Unit seemed in charge, as he pitched around one hit per inning through the sixth. He was mixing a medium fastball with his sharp-breaking slider, and an occasional change of pace, and didn’t post his first of five strike outs until he got Chone Figgins swinging with one down in the third. Howie Kendrick followed with a single and stolen base, but Posada ranged all the way back to the screen to snatch Cabrera’s medium-high foul pop to close the frame.

Guerrero singled on Randy’s first pitch of the fourth, but Johnny Damon hauled in Juan Rivera’s deep drive to center. When Johnson got DH Tim Salmon to swing and miss at three of four pitches, the Scoreboard shared the fact that he had just garnered his 4,500th career strike out. The crowd cheered lustily, and even more so once Randy coaxed a popup to close the inning. He is the third pitcher, and the first lefty, to reach that figure. Johnson has been dominating hitters so long that one finds his name pop up in daily baseball history lists several times a week, and August 14 is no exception. With Seattle, he lost a no-hitter in the ninth inning on this day 15 years ago, settling for a 4-0, one-hit, complete-game win over Oakland.

And Johnson was winning this game too, though the fact that it was just by a score of 2-0 had fans shaking their heads. The Yanks reached Lackey for a leadoff Jason Giambi double to dead center in the second, but the Yankee DH ran through Larry Bowa’s stop sign on Posada’s hard single to center and was nailed at the plate. They didn’t waste it when Melky Cabrera started the third with another double, however. With the Angels infield in with Cabrera on third with one down, Yankee Captain Derek Jeter battled Lackey to a full count on six tough pitches, then lofted the seventh over the wall in straightaway center for a 2-0 Yankee lead.

But the hits kept coming, if not the runs. A-Rod walked on a full count leading off the fourth and moved to second on a Robbie Cano single. Posada actually showed bunt for one pitch, but then smacked a dp ball to Kendrick at second, and when A-Rod cruised toward third, Cabrera pivoted and nailed him for the rare 4-6-5 twin killing. It was the first time in a while I felt Alex deserved some derision, but this crowd was different, and most held their fire.

The Yanks were back in the fifth, but Cabrera was doubled off after his leadoff single on Damon’s hard liner to right on a hit and run play. Not skipping a beat, Jeter singled to right and Bobby Abreu walked, but Giambi bounced back to the box. Cabrera suffered the same fate in the sixth following Posada and Craig Wilson two-out singles.

Johnson, meanwhile, continued to work, but the Angels finally reached him in the top of the seventh. Molina doubled with one down, and Figgins scored him on a soft single to center after almost missing a strike three. When Kendrick doubled to the wall in right, the teams were tied 2-2 despite four failed Yankee rallies and one successful one. Torre left Randy on the mound and he closed the frame on a bouncer to second, as Cano scared the crowd by stumbling a bit before his throw.

But all the drama seemed to make some kind of sense in the bottom of the seventh. Damon punched a single toward left, and Jeter deadened a perfect bunt on the grass down the line inches from the third base line. It would have been a dandy sacrifice, but was an even better hit. Abreu followed with a sac bunt on which Lackey almost pulled his first baseman off the bag, and the stage was set. Before this game, Joe Torre had slipped Giambi into the fourth spot ahead of A-Rod against tough righty Lackey. He had moved Cano in front of the struggling Posada as well.

With two in scoring position, the Anaheim strategy was clear and predictable. Lefty power hitter Giambi was walked intentionally to fill the bases and the beleaguered-in-his-own-city A-Rod came to the plate with the game on the line. Lackey/Rodriguez was the confrontation the game had built to all night, and the Angels righty got the upper hand when Alex took a fastball on the outer half to fall behind 1-2. With the crowd cheering him much louder than any in the last few months have booed, Rodriguez was ready when Lackey tried the same pitch. Going with it, he lofted a fly to the right field fence in the corner. Guerrero used his height to make a great grab at the wall, but the job was done, and Damon trotted home with the lead run.

Kyle Farnsworth threw a dominant eighth, reaching 101 mph on the gun several times in getting two quick grounders and a strike out. Posada gave the home team immediate insurance with a first-pitch home run to right off Brendan Donnelly in the bottom half for his third hit of the game. Also featured in the four-run rally the Yanks finally mounted were Cabrera’s third hit, and rbi singles by A-Rod and Abreu sandwiched around a Giambi sac fly. The crowd got an unexpected treat when Mariano Rivera came on to close in a non-save situation.

It was yet another gorgeous day in the Bronx, and the Yanks gained a game in the standings with their win, as Boston fell to Detroit, with the big five-game set in Beantown coming in just a few days. Some Yankee fans will brave the atmosphere and attitude of Fenway, while most will cheer them on on the TV, the radio, or the Internet. It’s a great rivalry, and will be an exciting time, and great for baseball fans all over.

Tuesday was the 66th birthday of singer/songwriter Dash Crofts, who teamed with partner Jim Seals on a sweet and mellow hit with Summer Breeze 34 years ago. With the drama and the tension building toward the weekend showdown in Boston, it was great to sit in breezy Yankee Stadium and take in a big win on a mostly mellow night. Randy Johnson is throwing well, and Alex Rodriguez came through with the big at bat.

BTW,TYW

YANKEE BASEBALL!!!