CLOSE CALL
Alex Rodriguez got to the brink of history on Thursday night before Miami righthander Sam Dyson got in the way in the Yankees’ 94 win at the Stadium.
Looking for hit No. 3,000, Rodriguez came to the plate in the bottom of the eighth following a Chase Headley walk.
Instead, Dyson missed with four straight inside fastballs — none close to the strike zone — infuriating the Stadium crowd that seemingly forgot about Rodriguez’s tumultuous past.
“It’s a lot easier to deal with these atbats because we’re in the middle of the game and we need wins badly,” Rodriguez said of his pursuit. “You always feel one away, but it’s a lot easier to deal with when you’re trying to win a game.”
Dyson was booed loudly and heard chants of “ahole” and “you suck” before being removed from the game.
Rodriguez needed three hits on Thursday to become the 29th player in major league history to get to 3,000.
Greeted with “ARod” choruses with each atbat, he looked like he might get there after an RBI single in the first and a hit to left in the fifth put him at 2,999.
But he lined out to right in the sixth and never got the chance to take the bat off his shoulders in his final atbat.
“You think about it some, but I’m in a good place,” Rodriguez said about the history. “We like playing at home … [and] my approach hasn’t changed all year.”
It didn’t matter to the outcome of the game, with a tworun homer from Brett Gardner tying the score in the sixth and an other tworun shot by Carlos Beltran giving the Yankees the lead an inning later. They tacked on four more runs in the eighth to put the game away, but Dellin Betances warmed up twice just in case with Chris Martin struggling in the ninth.
“If I don’t bring him [Betances] in and we lose the game, how’s that wear and tear?” manager Joe Girardi said when asked about getting Betances loose. “Not too good. I’m gonna be crucified.”
Instead, Dyson was the only villain and now Rodriguez will have to wait at least one more night, with the Tigers and Justin Verlander visiting Friday.
“He’s at the top of his class,” Rodriguez said of Verlander. “He’s been as good as it gets for a long time.”
No doubt the crowd will be ready to celebrate.
Unlike the acrimony surrounding his last milestone, which involved a potential $6 million bonus upon tying Willie Mays for fourth alltime on the home run list, there’s no monetary attachment to 3,000 hits.
Girardi said he’s not surprised by how Rodriguez has been received by the home fans lately.
“I’ve had a chance to play with players who’ve gotten second chances, third chances, sixth or seventh chances,” Girardi said. “Fans just want to see players do well. He has done well. Sometimes people pull for people to fight back and get back up when they get knocked down.”
Rodriguez wasn’t the only one who did that Thursday, with Beltran booed after failing to come through with runners in scoring position twice early in the game.
He redeemed himself by hitting a 32 fastball from Matt Dunn into the leftfield seats. It was just Beltran’s fifth home run of the season and first since May 30. The late outburst prevented CC Sabathia from picking up his eighth loss of the season.
Beltran insisted he wasn’t bothered and Girardi remains confident the veteran will find some consistency at the plate.
“I just think it’s got to change,” Girardi said. “He’s still too good of a hitter not to have success.”
The same could be said for Rodriguez, now just a swing away from 3,000.