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Yankees slam way into MLB history

In nearly a century of storied slugging, the Bronx Bombers had never put on a show quite like this. Nobody had, in fact.

NEW YORK — In nearly a century of storied slugging, the Bronx Bombers had never put on a show quite like this. Nobody had, in fact.

The New York Yankees became the first team in major league history to hit three grand slams in a game, with Robinson Cano, Russell Martin and Curtis Granderson connecting Thursday in a wet, wild 22-9 romp over the Oakland Athletics.

“I’m surprised it hadn’t been done before with all the great teams and great individual hitters that have come throughout the course of the game,” Granderson said.

On a dreary afternoon, some fans headed home with the Yankees trailing 7-1 after three innings and rain still falling in a game that began after an 89-minute delay.

Turns out they missed the Yankees coming home — over and over and over.

Cano began the barrage with his slam in the fifth, a clean shot into the lower deck in right field off starter Rich Harden that made it 7-6.

Martin connected in the sixth off Fautino De Los Santos (2-1), a fly that barely made it over the auxiliary scoreboard in right for a 10-7 lead.

Granderson took his turn in the eighth, launching a no-doubt drive into New York’s right-centre field bullpen with two outs off Bruce Billings.

With MLB in its 136th year and approaching its 200,000th regular-season game next month, the Yankees knew it was a slammin’ day. Not until they saw a note posted on the video board about the three slams, however, did they realize exactly what they’d achieved.

“You’re not going to see it again, probably,” said captain Derek Jeter, who batted a whopping four times with the bases loaded and drove in one run. “You can’t explain it.”

Martin homered twice and doubled, setting career highs with five hits and six RBIs. Cano and Granderson each drove in five runs as the Yankees pulled off their biggest comeback win since 2006 and avoided a three-game sweep.

“Definitely cool. It was fun to be part of it,” Martin said. “When there’s nowhere to put them, they have to throw strikes.”

“This game has been played for a long time. Pretty much everything has already happened. I’m waiting to see who hits four,” he added.

Said Granderson: “There are so many players that have played. There’s a few times I’ve been one of a few or the first guy this season or something like that. But the fact that we as a team have done something that all the teams that have ever played this game have never done before, especially all the offences ... it kind of speaks to what this offence is.”

The Yankees scored six times in the seventh, helped by seven walks in the inning. They added six more in the eighth, with Andruw Jones homering after Granderson’s slam.

Overall it was the Yankees’ highest-scoring game since they got 22 runs at Boston in 2000, and it tied the team record set in 1931 for most in a home game. Cliff Pennington homered, doubled and drove in four runs for the A’s. Scott Sizemore also homered.

Yet for all the combined 36 hits and 15 walks, this day seemed to turn on something much more elementary — the weather.

Yankees fans weren’t in a forgiving mood at the outset. They booed when a battered Phil Hughes walked off in the third inning and jeered when Pennington hit reliever Cory Wade’s first pitch for a three-run homer that put the Athletics ahead 7-1.

But there was a big cheer when the sun poked through the clouds as the A’s batted in the fourth. Between innings, the stadium sound crew played Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles. Moments later, the Yankees bats came out.