Originally published Friday, August 10, 2012 at 9:35 PM
Ichiro matches career best with five RBI | Baseball Notebook
Playing center field, Ichiro matched a career high with five runs batted in, leading the Yankees to a 10-4 victory Friday night over the Blue Jays.
TORONTO — Ichiro is hardly awed by playing for baseball's most famous franchise. Sometimes, he doesn't even remember he's a Yankee.
Ichiro matched a career high with five runs batted in Friday night, leading New York to a 10-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Starting in center field for the first time in four years, he drove in five runs for the first time since Aug. 17, 2004 for the Mariners.
Ichiro had an RBI grounder, a two-run single and a two-run double.
"There's always an expectation here, whether it's fair or not, that when you get traded here you're supposed to really come and help," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "Some guys are going to feel that heat, and I don't think it's really bothered him."
The 10-time All-Star, traded by the Mariners last month, hasn't had trouble trying to live up to the Yankee mystique.
"Sometimes I get up to the plate and they say, 'Playing left field, Ichiro Suzuki for the Yankees,' " he said through a translator. "It kind of takes me a while to remember, 'Oh yeah, I am on the Yankees.' "
With center fielder Curtis Granderson getting a rest, Ichiro handled all three balls hit to him.
"It had been a while, so I was a little nervous, but there were no tough balls at me today," he said. "Everything went well."
Notes
• White Sox 1B Paul Konerko, hitting .316 with 18 home runs and 54 RBI, was placed on the seven-day DL with a concussion.
• 1B Todd Helton had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right hip, ending a disappointing season for the Rockies slugger. Helton, who turns 39 on Aug. 20, has 354 career home runs but only seven this season.
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