A-rod at centre of storm in Boston
Yankees slugger responds to beaning with home run
BOSTON Alex Rodriguez was hit by a fastball from Boston starter Ryan Dempster in the second inning Sunday night, setting off an angry scene at Fenway Park and leading to the ejection of New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi.
A-Rod answered with his bat four innings later by hitting his 649th career home run, prompting even more boos and derisive chants.
The game between the longtime rivals quickly turned testy, with the benches and bullpens clearing in the second and the teams being warned about beanballs by plate umpire Brian O’Nora.
Dempster appeared to take aim at Rodriguez, recently suspended for 211 games by Major League Baseball in the Biogenesis drug case. Rodriguez appealed the penalty and can play until there is a final decision.
Booed when he was on deck at the end of the first inning, Rodriguez was jeered when he led off the second. Fans chanted “You’re a cheater!” as Dempster threw his first pitch behind Rodriguez’s knees.
Dempster missed inside with the next two pitches and then threw a fastball that hit A-Rod’s elbow pad and deflected into his back.
O’Nora immediately issued an emphatic warning to both benches and a trainer escorted Rodriguez to first base. Rodriguez stared at Dempster, but made no move toward the mound.
Girardi, however, ran onto the field and began hollering at O’Nora. Presumably in disbelief that Dempster hadn’t been ejected, a livid Girardi wildly swung his fist — and it came near O’Nora’s chin.
“He was trying to establish his fastball,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said during an in-game interview on ESPN. “Obviously, the pitch got away from him. We didn’t feel in our dugout it was anything intentional.”
Dempster had hit four batters in 140 innings this season going into the game. He plunked two last year.
Sidelined by a hip injury and quadriceps problem, the 38-year-old Rodriguez made his season debut Aug. 5 on the same day MLB handed down his suspension.
Rodriguez was hitting .279 with one homer and four RBIs going into Sunday’s game. After being hit by a pitch, he drove in a run with groundout in his next at-bat.
In the sixth, Rodriguez hit a leadoff drive to straightaway centre field against Dempster and let out a scream as he rounded both first base and third. He clapped his hands as he stepped on home plate and pointed to the sky.