NEW YORK, 21 August 2006 — Johnny Damon starred against his former teammates to help the New York Yankees pound the Boston Red Sox 13-5 and record a third straight win over their archrivals on Saturday.
Damon had three hits for the third game in a row and drove in a run while Randy Johnson hung in for seven innings to give New York’s weary bullpen badly needed rest after a marathon doubleheader between the teams on Friday.
The Yankees took a season high 4 1/2 game lead on the Red Sox in the AL East with the victory, their third in two days over Boston.
New York has scored 39 runs in the first three games of this five-game series and after trailing 4-3 after four innings, scored twice in the fifth and five more in the sixth to pull away.
They took advantage of 13 walks on Saturday and made the most of their 10 hits, according to manager Joe Torre.
Robinson Cano drove in five runs for the Yankees and had two hits, including a three-run homer in the eighth inning. Jorge Posada had a three-run triple in the sixth inning and drove in four runs for New York.
Johnson (14-9) allowed five runs on just four hits and was hurt by six walks, while striking out just three. But it was “The Big Unit’s” 112-pitch effort that allowed the Yankees to use just two relievers, Jaret Wright and T.J. Beam, who both tossed a scoreless inning.
Josh Beckett’s control was even worse for Boston as he walked nine batters in his 5 2/3 innings. Beckett (13-8) was charged with nine runs on seven hits with two strikeouts to take the loss. Manny Ramirez hit a three-run hone run off Johnson in the fourth inning and Mike Lowell had two hits for the Red Sox.
In Baltimore, Daniel Cabrera pitched a five-hit shutout as the Orioles crushed the fading Toronto Blue Jays 15-0.
Cabrera (6-8) struck out 10 and walked two for his second career shutout as the Orioles became the last team in the majors to put together a four-game winning streak.
Kevin Millar drove in five runs for the Orioles, while Nick Markakis, Brian Roberts and Miguel Tejada all homered, with Tejada driving in three runs.
