CANO STAYS HOT AT PLATE IN DEFEAT

ARLINGTON, Texas - Robinson Cano may want to keep his bat away from his teammates'. Their ineptitude could be contagious.

In Game 2 of the ALCS, it seemed as if Cano was the only Yankee whose bat worked. While his teammates looked lost against Colby Lewis, Cano had two of the Yankees' three extra-base hits.

He hit a mammoth home run to right field in the sixth inning off of Lewis that traveled 435 feet and cut the Rangers' lead to 7-2. He had a double in the fourth, and eventually scored the Yankees' first run on a single by Lance Berkman.

"I felt good, but I would say what I did today doesn't mean anything because we lost," Cano said.

Cano has continued his MVP-caliber regular season so far in the postseason. He has homered four times in the playoffs and has at least one hit in every game. After going 2-for-5 yesterday, Cano is batting .429 (9-for-21) in the playoffs with six runs, a double, a triple, two home runs and four RBIs. He drove in the game-tying run Friday night in the eighth inning.

The problem for the Yankees is the lack of production from the hitters before Cano in the order. That group was 0-for-12 in Game 1 before the eighth-inning outburst. That group went 2-for-15 yesterday with four strikeouts.

Cano did have a couple of hiccups in the game. He struck out to end the seventh, stranding two runners, and flied out to left to end the game with two men on.

Cano also was part of the Rangers' double steal in the first inning that led to the Rangers' first run. When Josh Hamilton took off from first with two outs, Jorge Posada threw to Cano, who saw Elvis Andrus running from third.

Cano cut the ball off in front of second and fired home but did not get Andrus. It looked like if Cano tagged Hamilton, the inning would have ended. But Cano felt Andrus would have scored first.

"I thought I had a chance at home," Cano said. "You don't want the run to score. If I tag [the runner], the run scores for sure."