Maybe the Yankees can convince Kate Hudson to attend tonight’s game. Alex Rodriguez clearly needs some inspiration.
The Yankees slugger remains stuck on 599 home runs after going 0-for-5 last night in an 8-6 loss to the Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.
He is now in an 0-for-14 slide and has gone 11 games, 43 at-bats and thousands of camera flashes since hitting his last home run on July 22.
“It’s obviously inevitable not to think about it because you see all that,” Rodriguez said referring to the cameras flashing in the stands and the specially marked balls being run out to the umpire. “At the same time the idea is to think small and not try to do too much. It’s a 25-man roster and I’ve just got to do my small part.”
He was no help last night and the Yankees’ lead over the Rays in the AL East is now a memory. With the Rays’ 4-2 victory over the Twins last night, the two teams are tied atop the division.
An awful A.J. Burnett put the Yankees in a hole, and Rodriguez was unable to help the Yankees dig out. He grounded out in the first against Brandon Morrow, then struck out in the third and fifth. Scott Downs induced a grounder in the seventh.
It appeared Rodriguez’s night might be done but Nick Swisher’s ninth-inning home run, which cut the Jays’ lead to two, meant Rodriguez would get one more shot, and it would be with plenty of drama with two outs and the tying run on deck.
The buzz in the building fizzled, though, when he grounded out to shortstop Yunel Escobar to end the game.
“I only have 16 home runs this year,” Rodriguez said. “It’s not like I have 30 and things have stopped. I haven’t hit the home runs as often this year. For me it’s about productivity and putting good at-bats and finishing at-bats. Today and the last three or four days I haven’t been able to do that.”
At the beginning of this stretch, the Yankees were winning games. Now they’ve dropped three of their last four, and the lead over the Rays that was once four games is gone. It is the first time they have not been in sole possession of first place since June 19.
Burnett was the main culprit last night, allowing eight runs in 42⁄3 innings, seven in a brutal fifth inning.
Manager Joe Girardi said there’s not much you can say to Rodriguez to take the pressure off as the wait for 600 drags on.
“It’s not the longest drought he’s had during the course of the year not hitting a home run,” he said. “It’s going to happen. You just want him to continue to try to have good at-bats and try not to think about it too much. It’s easy to say don’t think about it, but he’s asked about it every day. There’s flashbulbs going off every time he goes up and they change the balls. I don’t know how you don’t think about it.”
Since hitting No. 599, Rodriguez has gone 9-for-43 (.209) with three doubles and eight RBIs. He hasn’t had an extra-base hit in nearly a week, though.
“I thought I swung the bat a little better [last night],” Rodriguez said. “I thought I had some good bat speed and fouled my pitches off. The bottom line is you’ve just got to get it done and tonight wasn’t that night.”
Asked if the flashbulbs bothered him, Rodriguez joked, “I’m used to it. It’s been about a month. I’m going to be surprised when they stop.”