By GEORGE A. KING III
Posted: 4:14 am
June 29, 2008
If you listened closely, you heard Yankees' bench coach Rob Thomson scream "balk" from the third base dugout in the sixth inning yesterday at Shea Stadium.
Though Alex Rodriguez was initially called out trying to steal second on a pickoff play, Thomson knew Johan Santana had made a move home with is right leg and that he balked.
"The home plate umpire [Mike Everitt] called it," said Jason Giambi, who was at the plate at the time. "It was blatant."
Instead of having the bases empty and two outs, Santana had a runner on second and one out.
"I saw Alex taking off and I tried to go over but he said that I was going towards home plate," Santana said. "But then I turned to first base, so whatever he called, that was him. There was nobody else. So I don't question what they do, but it seems to me like at least two of those guys should be on the same page and they weren't on the same page. There was only one guy who made that call. But it ended up costing another run and then again, it hurts you."
Santana recovered to fan Giambi then intentionally walked Jorge Posada before watching Robinson Cano sneak a 1-1 pitch to right that scored Rodriguez with what turned out to be the decisive run.
"I went on the first move," Rodriguez said. "I am the last guy to ask. I read the move pretty good."
Cano, who has been a large disappointment in the first half of the season, continued his recent surge with a 2-for-4 game that hiked his average to .244.
"Before I was struggling with men on base," said Cano, who has 10 hits in the last 22 at-bats (.455). "It feels good to help the team win."
Additional reporting by Mark Hale.
