ANAHEIM, Calif. — Remember when Alex Rodriguez hit two homers against lefty Royals neophyte Will Smith a week ago at Yankee Stadium?
Suddenly, some believed Rodriguez was out of a power slump and on the way to hitting 30 homers and driving in 115 runs.
Well, since hitting the second homer, Rodriguez is 7-for-22 (.318) after going 3-for-4 in Tuesday night’s 5-1 loss to the Angels. But all seven hits are singles, and he has just one RBI on a sacrifice fly and is 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
According to a scout, Rodriguez didn’t have show flexibility in the lower half of the body Monday night when he went 1-for-5.
That could have been fatigue because he had just one complete game off (May 17) and was used as a pinch-hitter in the other game (April 18) he wasn’t in the starting lineup.
Nor did Rodriguez believe that being used as the DH more than usual (Tuesday night was the 14th time this year) was a factor.
“Like we talked about in spring training, if I can get close to 150 games this year, that’s the goal,’’ Rodriguez said. “[Manager] Joe [Girardi] has been wise and he has been taking advantage of playing [Eric Chavez] at third.’’
When Brett Gardner returns from the disabled list, Rodriguez’s DH stints will decrease because Raul Ibanez will fill that spot at least against right-handed hurlers.
Rodriguez, 37 in late July, has repeatedly said there is nothing wrong with his surgically repaired hip and knee and the left shoulder which was treated this past winter isn’t giving him problems.
Yet, he has seven homers and 19 RBIs in 181 at-bats.
Of his 52 hits, 40 are singles and he has three homers since April 28.
In his last 18 at-bats with runners in scoring position, Rodriguez has two singles and neither one delivered a run.
For the season he is hitting .170 (8-for-47) in the clutch.
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Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher colliding on the warning track in right-center field Monday night turned out OK for the players, but it came close to being very bad.
Unable to hear each other because of the loud Angel Stadium crowd, Granderson and Swisher went hard after Mark Trumbo’s fly ball. Granderson got a glove on it a nano-second before the outfielders ran into each other and the ball dropped to the ground.
“I was on the ground and Curt was running after the ball so I said, ‘He is OK,’ ’’ Swisher said.
Before chasing after the ball Granderson’s back hit the wall hard.
“I am just glad nothing is broke or knocked out,’’ said Swisher, who said he didn’t feel anything after the 9-8 loss.
Granderson said he didn’t know what happened and hadn’t seen a replay of the scary collision.
Granderson and Swisher were in the lineup. Granderson went 0-for-5, and Swisher had one hit in four at-bats and drove in the Yankees’ lone run.
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David Robertson and Brett Gardner continued to work in Tampa. Robertson threw from 50 feet and felt good. Gardner took dry swings and will advance to tee and toss drills today. There is no date for either to start a minor league rehab assignment yet.
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Russell Martin’s two-hit night Monday and 1-for-3 last night raised his average to .190 from .177. Though Girardi said he believes the career .267 hitter will improve, he is in position to accept that as long as Martin handles pitchers well and get on base.
Asked what if Martin doesn’t improve his average, Girardi said, “I might have to live with it.’’
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Yankees are 11-25 in the last 36 regular season games at Angel Stadium.
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The Yankees picked up Ryota Igarashi off waivers Tuesday, and he will be sent to Triple-A Scranton.
Igarashi, the right-handed reliever who spent two seasons with the Mets, was placed on waivers by the Blue Jays before being designated for assignment on Sunday. He made two appearances out of the bullpen for them, allowing four earned runs in one inning.
“He’s added a cutter and his velocity has jumped,” general manager Brian Cashman said of the 33-year-old, who still has options. “He gives us more bullpen depth in the organization.”
Igarashi went 5-2 with a 5.74 ERA in 79 relief appearances with the Mets and spent last spring training with the Pirates before being shipped to the Blue Jays.
To make room on the 40-man roster, the Yankees transferred RHP Brad Meyers (right labrum strain) to the 60-day disabled list.
The Angels put ace Jered Weaver on the 15-day DL with a lower-back injury, the day after he threw just 12 pitches against the Yankees.
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Before and after Mariano Rivera and David Robertson went on the DL, Cory Wade pitched well.
That was until Monday night when Trumbo crushed his first pitch of the ninth inning for a game-winning homer, only two of Wade’s 19 outings had been rocky.
But Wade didn’t make an excuse for the change-up Trumbo hit.
“If I throw the same pitch two more times he hits the ball out of the ballpark two more times,’’ Wade said. “It was a bad pitch. He beat me, there is no other way to put it.’’
— Additional reporting by Dan Martin.