The day started with renewed reason to worry about Phil Hughes' ability to help the Yankees on the mound, but it ended with the Yankees doing something that has never happened in the history of baseball.
Robinson Cano, Russell Martin and Curtis Granderson all hit grand slams on a long, rainy Thursday at Yankee Stadium to make the Yankees the first team ever to hit three grand slams in a single game. All those runs helped the Yankees turn an early 7-1 hole into a 22-9 win that blocked Oakland's attempt to pull off a three-game sweep in the Bronx.
Martin had another solo homer to go with his slam and Thursday was probably the best offensive day of his career. He had five hits and drove in six runs and both of his homers went out to right field, something he'd only done three times before in his big league career.
Every Yankee starter other than A-Rod drove in a run and Derek Jeter briefly got his batting average back to .300 before an out in his last at-bat left him at .299. That kind of onslaught is what allowed the Yankees to reel off 15 unanswered runs after Hughes put them in a 7-1 hole before the end of the third inning.
It's pretty hard to do something that the Yankees have never done before, but doing something that no team has ever done is even more impressive. No one really needed the reminder that the Yankee lineup has prodigious power in almost every spot, but it was eye-opening all the same.
Beyond the slams, there were plenty of numbers that jumped out at you when all was finally settled in the Bronx. Among them was the fact that the game took 4 hours and 30 minutes to play after a rain delay of 90 minutes put off the first pitch.
The A's pitchers combined to allow 13 walks -- seven of them in a six-run seventh inning that featured none of the five Yankee homers -- which is the most by any pitching staff in a nine-inning game this season. The entire bullpen was rancid for Oakland on Thursday, but the worst in show prize goes to Jordan Norberto, who walked five men and allowed four runs in two-thirds of an inning.
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All those walks allowed the Yankees to wind up with more runs than hits in the game. That's happened before, obviously, but probably not when a team has 21 hits for the contest.
The Yankee bullpen was much better. Forced into action with two outs in the third inning thanks to Hughes' inability to get outs, they allowed three runs the rest of the way despite keeping David Robertson, Rafael Soriano and Mariano Rivera on the bench.
And if all that isn't enough to make this a memorable game, Jorge Posada played second base in the ninth inning and recorded the last out of the game on a grounder. It is the first time he's ever played there in the major leagues, although he was an infielder back when he was getting started in the minors.
The jaw-dropping power display will obscure it, but Hughes' start is worth some discussion despite things working out in the end. He looked like the pitcher he was back in April with no bite or life on his pitches, a troubling development given his recent results and all the other issues in the Yankee rotation.
The Yankees could have used a better outing, obviously, but a longer one would have served them almost as well. They are scheduled to play five games in the next four games against Baltimore, but Hurricane Irene may wreak havoc on the schedule and force them to play multiple pitcher-draining doubleheaders.
Those worries can wait until Friday, though. For now, just marvel at what the Yankee bats pulled off in a game that will surely be played on YES long after everyone playing in the game has hung up their spikes.
