"Mets rookie right-hander Dillon Gee had not faced any active Yankees batter until yesterday. So as far as Robinson Cano knew, he might very well have been facing Matt Dillon or Edward G. Robinson. Cano's first two at-bats produced a double-play grounder and a fly out.

"He was pitching good," Cano said of Gee. "The thing is you never faced him and when you never face a guy, you don't know."

So the third time, Cano just sought something over the plate.

He got it. And then he really got a hold of it.

"The first pitch [in the sixth-inning at-bat] was a curveball and the second was a changeup. I was looking for something in the strike zone. I wasn't looking for anything special," Cano said. "And the thing is I ended up knocking in two.""