IN FULL SWING
A bunt and a blast. And a sacrifice fly. That sums up Carlos Beltran’s impressive offensive night for the Yankees in their 5-0 blitz of Baltimore at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday.
Beltran’s big blast came leading off the eighth inning. Beltran smoked an 0-2 fastball from Orioles reliever Chaz Roe to right for his 20th home run of the season and 412th of his career, which moved him into a tie with Alfonso Soriano for 52nd place on the all-time home run list.
But perhaps Beltran’s most intriguing hit was a shift-busting bunt in the sixth inning that led to the Yankees’ third run. With the Orioles stacked to the right side and Jacoby Ellsbury on first base, Beltran neatly bunted down third. He could have run backwards — on his hands — and been safe at first.
“It’s really a smart play by Carlos,” manager Joe Girardi said. “We don’t see it very often.”
It’s not something you see from a 400-home run guy.
“Basically today was one of those days where I felt a little bit slow [with the bat]. I felt like I was battling my first couple at-bats. I didn’t feel great at the plate,” said Beltran whose homer was his first since June 22. “I told myself from the beginning if Ells gets on base, I’m going to try to drop a bunt and hopefully I make it right and we’re capable of putting two guys on base for the guys behind.”
After Beltran’s bunt, Brian McCann walked to load the bases, then Mark Teixeira walked and the Yankees had their third run of the game. Beltran, who reached the 20homer plateau for the 12th time in his career, provided run No. 5 in the eighth, and his bat looked anything but slow.
“Well, I got a good pitch, a good pitch to hit,” said Bel- tran who became the third player in Yankees history, aged 39 or older, to mash at least 20 homers in a season, joining Alex Rodriguez and Babe Ruth. “It was a fastball in the middle of the plate, up in the strike zone and I put a good swing on that.”
A swing that was not the least bit slow. And Beltran drove a sacrifice fly to center in the first inning, even with the slow swing, to get the Yankees ahead, 1-0.
Beltran’s homer also put him in some other select clubs. For example, only he and Eddie Murray have 20homer seasons as switch hitters aged 39 or older.