Alex has last laugh with decisive blast
ALEX RODRIGUEZ may not know comedy, but he sure knows hitting.
Fresh off lukewarm reviews of the “apology” skit he did with Ken Jeong at the ESPY Awards — during which the comedian/actor served as Rodriguez’s spokesman in apologizing for everything from gluten to the financial crisis in Greece, but not for using PEDs — the slugger put on a performance worthy of a standing ovation from the sellout crowd at the Stadium Friday night.
A-Rod started the “second half” of his renaissance season by hammering a seventh-inning solo homer into the home bullpen in right center field to snap a tie score and send the Yankees to a 4-3 victory over the Mariners before 47,086.
The blast off Seattle reliever Joe Beimel did much more than bring the roaring crowd to its feet. It gave the first-place Bombers their biggest lead of the season in the AL East, 4½ games ahead of Tampa Bay, and turned Masahiro Tanaka’s uneven performance into a win. Rodriguez continues to impress in his first season back after a season-long PED suspension; this was his 19th home run and third in four games.
“I was hoping that ball certainly went out. I thought it did when I hit it,” Rodriguez said. “I’m rested, I’m healthy and it felt good tonight.”
As for his performance at the ESPYs, he said “I thought it was a nice way to laugh at myself — at my expense — and it was fun. It was a great night.”
A-Rod’s homer was the 39th of his career to give his team a lead in the seventh inning or later, according to ESPN Stats & Info, so no one in the home clubhouse was particularly surprised. “(He’s) been in every situation — in the World Series — and had a lot of success to the point where you’re able to slow the game down . . . and come through in big situations,” said Chris Young.
“He knows what he wants to do and understands ballparks,” Joe Girardi said. “He’s been around a long time so he understands the situation and what he’s supposed to try to do. . . . It’s a big hit and he gets the second half started off the right way.”
Rodriguez now has 34 homers in 125 career games against the organization that he came up with as a 19-year-old rookie.
Tanaka (6-3) notched his third straight quality start after a rough patch to close June. He allowed three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven in seven innings. Over his last three starts, Tanaka has pitched 20.2 innings to a 3.05 ERA.
But the righthander failed to hold one-run leads twice, giving each of them up on Kyle Seager home runs. Young’s solo shot to left in the second broke a scoreless tie before Seager tied it in the third. Young doubled and scored on a Brian McCann single in the fourth for a 2-1 lead before Seager hit a two-run shot in the fifth.
“They were just bad pitches I threw and he got the most of it,” Tanaka said, through an interpreter, of the homers. “Other than that I felt pretty good out there. The pitches were coming out of my hand pretty good and I was able to pitch the way I wanted to.”
In the eighth, All-Star Dellin Betances retired the side — Seager, Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz — in order. Andrew Miller worked the ninth for his 19th save in 19 tries.
A-Rod said he wasn’t thinking about a homer, but just getting on base because Betances and Miller have been so good. “Having those two guys is such a big weapon for us,” he said. “You literally just try to get on base and you hope one run is enough. We know it and the other team knows it as well.”
Rodriguez is a huge reason the Yankees are riding so high in the division. He said Girardi’s decision to keep him as the DH rather than play him in the field has kept him in the lineup, where he has been a run-producer. And Girardi said, “He held up great in the first half and I expect him to hold up well in the second half and be productive.”
For the other teams in the AL East, that prospect is no laughing matter.