A-Rod has a Monster blast
BOSTON — Joe Girardi was hoping that Alex Rodriguez’s three-hit night Wednesday, which included a home run and a double, was a sign of things to come. A-Rod gave Girardi more reason for hope with a second-inning home run against Henry Owens Friday night, ripping a 425-foot solo shot off the light tower in left-center over the Green Monster.
It was A-Rod’s second homer in two games and fourth of the season, but it also turned out to be one-half of the offense the Yankees could muster in Friday’s 4-2 loss to the Red Sox as David Ortiz topped his long-time opponent with a go-ahead, tworun shot in the eighth.
“I’ve been working hard with (hitting coaches) Alan (Cockrell) and Marcus (Thames),” A-Rod said. “If you told me 10 years ago that Big Papi and I would be hitting home runs at 40, I probably would have laughed. Obviously winning the game is the most important thing.”
Rodriguez came up empty in his other three at-bats, though he still has five hits and a walk in his last nine trips to the plate. “He’s just shorter to the ball,” Girardi said. “Sometimes it takes guys a little while to find their stroke but he seems shorter to the ball.”
A-Rod’s hit moved him past Cap Anson for sole possession of 20th place on the alltime hits list with 3,082. But after watching Ortiz provide more heroics for the Red Sox against the Yankees, Rodriguez wasn’t talking about his own accomplishments.
“I’ve been seeing it since he was in Aball in Appleton, Wisc., with the Mariners,” A-Rod said of Ortiz. “He’s unbelievable. I don’t have anything else to say. He’s unbelievable.”
MAINTAINING ORDER
If you’re waiting for Girardi to shake up the Yankees’ lineup as the team continues to go through an offensive funk, don’t hold your breath.
Girardi sent out his regular Friday, sticking to his guns that the Yankees’ fortunes will change if his hitters continue to take the right approach.
“I think a guy needs to get, I don’t know, maybe 150 at-bats under his belt before you really jump to a big judgment,” Girardi said. “Sometimes you can see it quicker than that but I think you have to give guys a chance to get into the season.”
The manager was speaking of Chase Headley specifically, though the same could apply to a number of Yankees off to slow starts. Seven of the nine regulars are hitting below .250, while five have on-base percentages below .300.
ARMED & READY
Aaron Hicks was not i n the lineup Friday against lefthander Henry Owens, but Girardi said Hicks – who sat out four games with a sore left shoulder before pinch-running Wednesday night – is healthy. Girardi considered starting Hicks, but stuck with his regular outfield of Brett Gardner, Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran for unspecified “strategic reasons.” He said Hicks could be back in the lineup Sunday night against David Price.