[轉錄] A-Rod makes A-Difference
From: http://myurl.com.tw/7hh2
A-Rod makes A-Difference
Yanks count on 3-run HR
BY SAM BORDEN
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
BOSTON - Alex Rodriguez felt it but never saw it. He thought he had made
good contact on Tim Wakefield's 2-and-0 knuckleball but when he looked up
into the sky for the pop-up he assumed he had hit, the ball wasn't there.
Then A-Rod glanced out at Wakefield and saw a hitter's favorite sight:
The pitcher staring forlornly backwards. That's when he realized he had
launched a three-run homer over the Green Monster - a home run that most
certainly mattered.
Rodriguez's seventh-inning shot ended up being the difference in the
Bombers' 7-5 victory over the Red Sox, and afterward A-Rod took issue
with anyone who believes that delivering critical hits is something with
which he is only vaguely familiar.
"I've done a lot of special things in this game," he said. "For none of
that to be considered clutch is an injustice."
That debate figures to rage on among Yankee fans for as long as Rodriguez
plays in pinstripes, but his contributions yesterday can't be argued. One
night after hitting a meaningless ninth-inning homer in a Bombers loss,
Rodriguez's 11th home run of the season was far from cosmetic. The Yanks
won for only the second time in five games with the Sox this season and
pulled to 1-1/2 games behind their rivals in the AL East.
"That was the biggest hit of the game," Gary Sheffield said. "If we don't
get those three runs, we don't win."
Of course, the Yankees needed much more than just that one blast. If not
for Mariano Rivera coming on to bail out a leaky bullpen and record a
five-out save, the Red Sox might have stormed back. Rivera entered in the
eighth inning after Kyle Farnsworth walked two hitters to bring up the
lethal part of the Sox order in David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez.
Rivera needed just four pitches to retire Ortiz on a liner to center,
then gave up a RBI single to Ramirez - an improvement on the 450-foot
homer the Red Sox left fielder crushed off Scott Proctor an inning
earlier - before getting Trot Nixon to pop up for the final out.
Rivera then worked a one-hit ninth to earn his ninth save.
"Mo is a very unusual person when it comes to competing," Joe Torre said.
"He's just got a calmness about him."
That sort of serenity was missing from most of the game as emotions
shifted throughout the night. Jaret Wright was hit in the gut by a
comebacker from the first batter he faced and left the game with a
tweaked groin muscle after five shutout innings.
Johnny Damon did his best to make Red Sox Nation rue his departure even
more by crushing a leadoff homer in the first and smacking a double in
the third that sparked a two-run inning and put the Yanks ahead 3-0.
"Getting big hits against the Red Sox? Yeah, I love it," said Damon, who
played four years with Boston before signing with the Yanks last winter.
"My loyalty is to the team that has me."
Rodriguez's stock here isn't much higher than Damon's. The sellout crowd
of 36,290 had been all over A-Rod as he struggled in his first three
at-bats last night, striking out twice and flying out once.
One of his whiffs, however, led to a run as Red Sox catcher Doug
Mirabelli suddenly started looking like a knuckleball neophyte in the
sixth.
It started when A-Rod scampered down to first after he swung at strike
three, but the ball got past Mirabelli and went to the backstop. Passed
ball No. 2 followed and A-Rod advanced to second, then went to third on
Bernie Williams' fielder's choice three batters later. The third passed
ball of the frame allowed him to trot home and put the Bombers in front
4-1.
An inning later, Rodriguez extended that lead and provided the Yanks with
what proved to be a necessary cushion. Derek Jeter and Sheffield worked
walks off Wakefield (6-2/3 innings, seven runs) before Rodriguez stepped
to the plate.
After taking two pitches, he stepped into a flutterer and began moving
down the first-base line slowly as he searched for the ball. At one
point, he even raised his hands in the air in confusion.
"It felt good off the bat but I'd been popping it up all night so I said,
'Here's another one,'" Rodriguez said. "I didn't know where the hell it
was."
Little did he know, it was gone. Torre suggested this was "huge" for
Rodriguez, who has been as hard on himself as any observers this year,
but A-Rod did not want to attach too much significance.
"Everything counts," he said. "We just need to figure out a way to get
wins, relax and enjoy ourselves a little bit."
Originally published on May 24, 2006
--
You always knew. "But I, being poor, have only my dreams.
I have spread my dreams under your feet.
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams." I assume you dream, Preston.
--
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