A-Rod stands apart with 400
MILWAUKEE – Alex Rodriguez snapped out of his prolonged funk — and so did the New York Yankees.
A-Rod became the youngest player to reach 400 homers with a pair of shots in New York’s 12-3 rout of the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, just the team’s second win in 11 games.
“It was a very special day for me, especially if you do it in a win that we needed most desperately,” Rodriguez said after homering twice and going 4 for 4 with four RBIs.
“Just to do it with this uniform, the New York Yankees uniform on, to me is something I’ll never forget.”
Yankees manager Joe Torre went to drastic measures to snap his slumping team out of its latest nose-dive, canceling batting practice, juggling his lineup – sitting Hideki Matsui for the first eight innings – and getting ejected for arguing.
It all worked. A team that had hit .195 overall and .140 with runners in scoring position while losing seven of its first eight games on a season-long 12-game road trip, collected 16 hits and scored its most runs in two weeks.
“Tonight we had some guys swinging the bat, and that has been the missing ingredient,” Torre said.
A-Rod had been AWOL, failing to drive in a run in 11 games. He ended the second-longest RBI drought of his career with a two-run shot to left field off left-hander Chris Capuano in the first inning.
“In order for us to do what we need to do, the middle of the lineup has to step up, myself included, with Gary (Sheffield) and Matsui,” Rodriguez said. “We know that. We just got to get going.”
A-Rod’s solo shot to right off left-hander Jorge De La Rosa in the eighth made him the 40th player in major league history to hit 400 homers, but the first before his 30th birthday.
“That’s pretty incredible,” Torre said. “The shape he’s in, the way he works, who knows where he’s going?”
The crowd of 37,586 gave A-Rod a polite standing ovation as he circled the bases. New York batting practice pitcher Roman Rodriguez caught the historic homer in the Yankees’ bullpen and acted as though he was going to flip it into the stands before holding onto it with a sly smile.