Can’t stop A-Rod or hot Yanks

[BuckFoston]

The latest rocket launched by the Canadian-made maple bat of Alex Rodriguez splashed down beyond both walls in left-centerfield and beyond the warm-up area in the bullpen.

"He's so explosive when he hits it on the screws like that," Joe Torre said after A-Rod's two-run shot provided the tying and winning runs in the Yankees' 4-3 victory over the Tigers last night at Yankee Stadium. "No ballpark can hold it."

Rodriguez's timely home run in the fifth off hard-throwing Jeremy Bonderman (5-3) not only was his major league-leading 17th, but it brought the Yankees back from a 3-2 deficit. It made a winner out of Kevin Brown (4-4), concluded a three-game sweep and propelled the Yankees into a three-game series against the Red Sox on a 15-of-17 tear. The Yankees, once 11-19 and fading fast, trail Baltimore by 4 1/2 games and lead Boston by a half-game.

Brown won his fourth straight with seven gritty rather than great innings. Tom Gordon struck out two in the eighth and Mariano Rivera, though he needed 23 pitches, struck out the side in the ninth for his 11th save. He has blown two saves this season, both against Boston.

Brown didn't even get a chance to see Rodriguez's blast. He was in the bathroom when A-Rod connected.

"I heard the crowd and knew it was something good," Brown said. "It's good to come out to something like that."

Bench coach Joe Girardi turned to Torre as Rodriguez's rocket took flight and said, "How do you think that feels?"

Rodriguez had an answer. "It felt really good. I hit it well," he said. "Bonderman is a handful He's got good stuff. Electric. The key with him is to get a good pitch to hit and put it in play. I did that."

Actually, he put it out of play. Way out.

"We definitely didn't want to overlook Detroit," said Rodriguez, who went 2-for-3, is on a 14-for-26 streak that has lifted his average to .324 and leads the majors in runs (43) and RBIs (49). His 398th homer tied Dale Murphy for 42nd on the all-time list. "This team is in a good state of mind."

Which is a good place to be with the Red Sox coming to town.

Torre pointed out the difference between this series and the hype that greeted the first two series between these teams in 2005, when each provided the other's first home opponent of the season.

"It's baseball now," he said. "It still means more than against someone else, but it's normal lunacy, not extraordinary."

Still, questions persisted about whether A-Rod needs to prove himself against Boston. He had a 1-for-17 series at Fenway in 2004, struggled in the final three games of the ALCS and made a costly error against the Red Sox this season. He hasn't yet had a monster game replete with a monstrous and momentous home run against the Yankees' archrival.

"Going in, he's got as good a chance as he's had to be what he's been," Torre said.

What he's been for most of 2005 is magnificent, on pace for a possible 50-homer, 150-RBI MVP season. Perhaps his biggest improvement from last season, besides the statistics, is the timing of his hits. No one is quoting his average with runners in scoring position or bemoaning the lack of clutch hits.

On Wednesday, he struck out with the bases loaded, then delivered a ringing, tiebreaking double his next time up. Last night, he struck out with men on first and third to end the third, then came through with his thunderous home run.

"He's bouncing back from those [bad] things better than last year," Torre said.

To which A-Rod said, "That's fair."

What Rodriguez, who is 5-for-26 against the Red Sox in 2005, did not consider fair were questions about having to do well against Boston. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard," he snapped. "That's for you guys [the media]. I couldn't care less."

That might be a tough sell.http://www.newsday.com/sports/printe...y-sports-print

[RLA68]

It is hard to fathom that this team could barely get a win in the first 30 games pretty much. 11-19. If they won it was usually something like 11-9.

Our pitching has come around and the hitting is consistent and timely.

Oh, and ARod for MVP.

[BuckFoston]

You better believe it!