Things are taking shape

[Eric the Red]

Yankees won again tonight.

 

CUbs, Royals and Cards have taken their rightful spot on the bottom of the standings.

[DJR313]

The Yankees are going to have a rough spot here with Pavano and Mussina out. Good thing they have a good offense.

 

Meanwhile...Dodgers = best team in the majors.

[Eric the Red]

The Yankees are going to have a rough spot here with Pavano and Mussina out. Good thing they have a good offense.

 

Meanwhile...Dodgers = best team in the majors.

 

 

Dodgers?? ........not familiar with them, oh wait, I told you I don't follow the minors, only real baseball

[HSKRNOKC]

A-rod is hot right now. we will see what the Yanks are made of when(if) he cools off.

[BIGREDIOWAN]

The Yankees are going to have a rough spot here with Pavano and Mussina out. Good thing they have a good offense.

 

Meanwhile...Dodgers = best team in the majors.

 

 

Dodgers?? ........not familiar with them, oh wait, I told you I don't follow the minors, only real baseball

[DJR313]

The Yankees are going to have a rough spot here with Pavano and Mussina out. Good thing they have a good offense.

 

Meanwhile...Dodgers = best team in the majors.

 

 

Dodgers?? ........not familiar with them, oh wait, I told you I don't follow the minors, only real baseball

 

We'll see if those bats are still hot come October. The Dodgers play REAL baseball. Yankees are currently 3rd in their own division, but that's nice about Gay-Rod hitting a home run every game. Jeter is playing some fine defense too.

[NU fan in Denver]

The Yankees are going to have a rough spot here with Pavano and Mussina out. Good thing they have a good offense.

 

Meanwhile...Dodgers = best team in the majors.

 

 

Dodgers?? ........not familiar with them, oh wait, I told you I don't follow the minors, only real baseball

 

We'll see if those bats are still hot come October. The Dodgers play REAL baseball. Yankees are currently 3rd in their own division, but that's nice about Gay-Rod hitting a home run every game. Jeter is playing some fine defense too.

 

October???? What are you talking about October for????? A-Rod doesn't play baseball in October.

[Silent Commit]

CUbs, Royals and Cards have taken their rightful spot on the bottom of the standings.

 

Speaking of the Royals, whatsup with Gordon? Sheeeesh, is he struggling or what? He's being constantly overmatched by major league pitching. He's barely hitting over a dime and has mustered....what....1 hr and 2 RBI over 48 ATs. That's horrible! Think he was rushed into the majors too quickly?

[Eric the Red]

A-Rod caps off winning rally

 

Dramatic home run finishes rally back from four-run deficit

By Bryan Hoch / MLB.com

 

NEW YORK -- Josh Phelps was trotting around the bases to complete what appeared to be a meaningless solo homer Thursday afternoon when Andy Pettitte leaned over and snuck in a quick comment to Alex Rodriguez.

 

Sitting on the Yankees' bench, Pettitte warned Rodriguez that he might have one more at-bat coming. Rodriguez considered the game situation -- two outs, bottom of the ninth -- and admitted he didn't have a very good feeling about this one.

 

One has to wonder what sort of premonitions Pettitte may hold for the Yankees' upcoming series at Boston.

 

A momentous six-run rally erupted, and just as predicted, Rodriguez delivered the capping blow, tagging closer Joe Borowski for a game-winning three-run homer as the Yankees sunk the Indians, 8-6, to complete a series sweep.

 

Somewhere in a mob scene at home plate, after Rodriguez had cracked third-base coach Larry Bowa on the head and spiked his batting helmet into the turf, Rodriguez caught eyes with Pettitte.

 

"He was laughing," Rodriguez said. "He just said, 'I told you.'"

 

Rodriguez's incredible April continued with his Major League-leading 10th home run, as A-Rod became the first player in American League history to hit that many homers in his club's first 14 games.

 

"I'm just trying to enjoy the moment," Rodriguez said.

 

But he couldn't have done it without a ninth inning that proved to be part miracle, part meltdown. Coming on with a four-run lead, Borowski retired the first two batters in the frame, sending some in what remained of a crowd of 40,872 trickling toward the stadium exits.

 

Those who left missed the most exciting parts of a Thursday matinee that, for Yankees fans, had been highlighted by a Jason Giambi home run, 4 1/3 innings of solid ball from rookie Darrell Rasner, and little else.

 

Phelps kept the Yankees' hopes alive by slugging a solo homer -- his first since May 2005 -- to left, cutting Cleveland's lead to 6-3. Jorge Posada ripped a two-strike single up the middle and moved to second on defensive indifference before Johnny Damon walked, bringing Derek Jeter to the plate as the tying run.

 

By this point, with Bobby Abreu looming on deck and searching for his fourth hit of the game, thoughts of a comeback started to stir in Rodriguez's mind.

 

 

 

"I figured if Johnny got on, I knew Jete would do something and I know Bobby's been swinging the bat well," Rodriguez said.

 

Jeter singled to left, scoring Posada to draw New York within two, and Abreu notched that fourth safety with a hit to left, scoring Damon.

 

"You never know what's going to happen," Jeter said. "You don't expect this [rally], but we have enough guys who are capable of getting hits and getting on base. Sometimes the last few outs are difficult to get."

 

Suddenly, there was Rodriguez, walking to the plate. To further complicate matters, a wild pitch moved the runners up. Opting not to pitch to Giambi with the bases loaded, the Indians settled upon trying their luck with Rodriguez.

 

"In years past, maybe I would have outthought myself in that situation, runners at second and third," Rodriguez said. "I just wanted to see the ball and put a good swing on it, and trust what I saw."

 

"It's the new Alex," Damon said. "He's taking playing in New York differently. He knows he's bigger, stronger and works harder than anyone, and is just letting that carry him."

 

On the bench, left-hander Sean Henn realized that -- having pitched the ninth inning -- he was now in position to notch his first Major League victory.

 

"I'm thinking, 'Wow, I have a chance here," Henn said.

 

Rodriguez took a pitch before meeting a fat 88-mph fastball and launching a deep drive to center field. With Cleveland center fielder Grady Sizemore playing in to guard against a potential play at the plate, the only question was just how far this one would go.

 

The answer came as the ball landed beyond the 408-foot mark in center, bouncing around to the left of the spot where Rodriguez's April 7 walk-off grand slam against Baltimore had settled.

 

As Rodriguez flipped his bat in the air and put his hands out, he again related to feeling like a Little Leaguer, leaping around the bases and just waiting for the opportunity to clap his hands on the skull of gritty third-base coach Larry Bowa, who was doing a little jumping of his own.

 

"I get the most pleasure out of trying to hit Bowa on the head as hard as I can," Rodriguez said.

 

Rodriguez's heroics bailed out ineffective reliever Luis Vizcaino, who had surrendered the advantage in a four-run Cleveland seventh.

 

With the Yankees hoping to carry a one-run lead and a series sweep into their weekend series at Fenway Park, those dreams took a hit as Jason Michaels walked and came around to score on an infield groundout, before Vizcaino served up a three-run homer to Victor Martinez.

 

Rasner started for the Yankees, following starts from Chase Wright and Kei Igawa to mark the first time since 1991 that the club had started three rookies in a series. Rasner surrendered a solo home run to David Dellucci in the fourth inning but limited the Indians to four hits, walking one and striking out three.

 

For veteran observers like Pettitte, who watched the contest from the Yankees' bench as he prepares for a whole new set of hysterics this weekend in Boston, the first eight innings of the contest must have seemed rather mundane.

 

It's a recipe perfected by the Gotham tabloids: sprinkle in a little Alex and, all of a sudden, the voltage jumps.

 

Last season, the news seemed to be all negative, and it filtered around the Major Leagues and down to Houston's clubhouse -- A-Rod this, A-Rod that. Through their 14 games sharing a clubhouse, Pettitte has to just sit back and wonder if he'd misheard it all.

 

"It's all been good since I've been here," Pettitte said. "I'm scratching my head trying to figure out what everyone was complaining about."

 

Bryan Hoch is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[HSKRNOKC]

Rich Hill is 3-0 and has a microscopic ERA. He has good control and a curveball that falls off of the table. Hell my Cubs arent the Yanks. Maybe thats why I love them.

[Silent Commit]

Rich Hill is 3-0 and has a microscopic ERA. He has good control and a curveball that falls off of the table. Hell my Cubs arent the Yanks. Maybe thats why I love them.

 

Yeah A-rod has been amazing - 10 HRs in about 15 games, and Hill's OBP is something like .085 - that's freakish! he's about the only going right for the Cubbies.

 

I know it's early....but it's hard not to project A-rod's total HRs if he keeps going at this pace. We're talking over a 100 HRs!! Of course that is not going to happen, but he definitely has a chance to smack 60-70 (even more?) this year.

 

Twins on top of their division as of today!

[mbhusker13]

Go Dogs!!!!! Look for L. Gonzo to show those D-Backs what they're missing. Dodgers will own the NL West this year!!!! My dad lives in Phoenix and hates L.A. so hopefully I'm right and can rub it in.

[Nicole]

Yankees Red Sox this weekend! tonight its pettitte and schilling! IM PUMPED!!

[BIGREDIOWAN]

Again....................................GO YANKEES....................................that is all

[kc_husker]

Rich Hill is 3-0 and has a microscopic ERA. He has good control and a curveball that falls off of the table. Hell my Cubs arent the Yanks. Maybe thats why I love them.

 

Yeah A-rod has been amazing - 10 HRs in about 15 games, and Hill's OBP is something like .085 - that's freakish! he's about the only going right for the Cubbies.

 

I know it's early....but it's hard not to project A-rod's total HRs if he keeps going at this pace. We're talking over a 100 HRs!! Of course that is not going to happen, but he definitely has a chance to smack 60-70 (even more?) this year.

 

Twins on top of their division as of today!

 

Royals just won

And Alex hit a double, got hit by a pitch, and stole 3 base.