NewsBranyan punctuates win with long blast
Slugger hits restaurant in center field at Yankee Stadium
By Jim Street / MLB.com
07/03/09 12:07 AM ET
NEW YORK -- After going nearly two games without hitting a ball between the white lines at Yankee Stadium, Mariners first baseman Russell Branyan hit one where no else has gone. Branyan took one of his husky swings at the first pitch he saw from right-handed reliever Alfredo Aceves in the ninth inning of the Mariners' 8-4 win over the Yankees on Thursday night and drove the ball majestically to straightaway center field. It had distance, it had height and it caromed off the dark glass protecting the Mohegan Sun Sports Bar, located above Monument Park, becoming the first player to hit the structure in the first season of the new stadium. The Yankees apparently don't measure opponent's home runs, but this was a long one. "That was majestic," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "[Alex Rodriguez's] was measured at 439 feet and this one went way beyond that one." It was the 20th home run of the season for Branyan, tying his previous single-season high in 2001. "He's a very good hitter," Aceves said, "but we didn't expect that. He hit the ball and that was it. It's a credit to him." Branyan said the full-count walk he coaxed out of left-handed starter CC Sabathia in the sixth inning, which ended a streak of seven consecutive strikeouts, put him in a good frame of mind heading into his final at-bat. "I was focused on seeing the ball," Branyan said. "It was a good pitch to hit." And he hit it, adding another majestic blast to his growing collection. "I think that one is going to be hard to top in this ballpark," Wakamatsu said.Jim Street is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
