Cano hotter in July

Yankee shines for second half

ROBINSON CANO 18-for-35 tear

Robinson Cano is still searching for the reason he has played so well since the All-Star break.

"Honestly, I don't know," the Yankees second baseman said before last night's game. "I've been just doing the same thing. I haven't changed anything."

When pressed for an answer as to why he has hit over .500 since the break, he reached back and rubbed his neck as if deeper thought would reveal the answer.

"Maybe those days off . . ., " he said as his voice trailed off.

Leading into the break, Cano was in a 1-for-17 slump. Cano flew to his native Dominican Republic and stayed there from July 13-17. He spent time with his father, Jose, and they talked about the game, watched some television, and went to a baseball field.

"When you're going through a slump, you want to do something to fix it, but you don't want to go crazy," Cano said. "You just keep battling, keep your head up, especially when you can hit after the All-Star break."

And hit he has.

When Cano returned, he began not just a hitting streak, but piled up six consecutive multihit games and the Yankees won all six, which, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, has happened only once before in major league history.

Entering last night's game, Cano was 18 for 35 (.514) since the break.

It should come as no surprise Cano is on second-half tear. Cano has a career .341 post-All-Star break average, collecting 285 hits in 835 at-bats.

Why is he so successful in the second half?

Yankees captain Derek Jeter shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. The best way is when he gets hot, he's hot. You can't get him out," said Jeter, who has played with Cano since 2005. "I don't know the reasoning for it. If people knew the reasons for it then they'd tell him to do it the first half.

"I just think he gets hot in the second half. I don't know. It takes him a while to get going."

Recently Yankees manager Joe Girardi and his players have credited the starters and relievers as well as timely hitting as reasons the Yankees are enjoying their best start to the second half in more than 60 years.

The first two parts of their pronounced winning equation are obvious. The Yankees pitching staff has been the major league's best in July.

A lot of those timely hits can be traced directly to Cano. The third-year second baseman is just the fourth player to collect 18 hits and 10 RBIs in the first eight games after the break and the first since Tony Gwynn in 1988.

Some examples of Cano's timely hitting came Saturday when he hit a game-tying home run in the fourth inning and added a two-run double in the eighth as the Yankees rolled to a 10-3 win. Third baseman Alex Rodriguez said the home run gave the team the push it needed.

"No question. It was huge momentum," he said.

Cano is currently playing with a considerable amount of momentum. He has increased his average to .270.

Whatever the reason for Cano's torrid stretch, don't expect Jeter to have the answer.

"He just gets hot," Jeter said. "That's it. Some things you can't explain. He's just streaky I guess."