… practice liner from Lance Berkman, who shows pain of his own (above) after striking out in the fourth inning of the Yankees’ 5-2
win over the Red Sox. (REUTERS)
Home run No. 601 might take a while for Alex Rodriguez.
The Yankees slugger took a hard grounder off the inside of his left ankle early in batting practice before yesterday’s 5-2 win over the Red Sox and was scratched from the lineup with a bruise.
It was a scary scene when Lance Berkman drilled a ball toward Rodriguez, who was at third base but did not see the shot. Rodriguez had just said hello to FOX broadcaster Joe Buck, who was in the Red Sox dugout, and one player who witnessed the scene said he thought Rodriguez may have been distracted.
Rodriguez, however, said it took “a second” to say hello to Buck and said he wasn’t distracted.
X-rays showed no broken bones, but Rodriguez was not sure when he would be back in the lineup. Ramiro Pena played third base.
When the ball struck Rodriguez’s shin, he immediately began hopping around while teammates called for trainer Gene Monahan, who was in the clubhouse.
“I never saw it,” Rodriguez said. “I just remember getting hit and I started jumping around like a rabbit. Like a scene from ‘Platoon’ — [Derek] Jeter and [Mark] Teixeira were making fun of me back there like I went down for the count. I’m glad they all got a great laugh out of it.”
Rodriguez jumped and limped his way to center field, where he fell down behind a protective screen. He writhed around the ground in pain. At one point he was face down. Several teammates gathered around him along with Yankees legend Reggie Jackson.
“He got hit,” Jeter said.
“He’s always like that when he gets hit.
“He’ll be all right.”
Berkman emerged from the batting cage shaken, saying, “Oh, my God.”
“I remember cringing because it was headed right for him,” Berkman said in the clubhouse later. “I hit it hard. I hope he’s not out long.”
Monahan and two paramedics tended to Rodriguez for several minutes before he left the field under his own power.
Rodriguez, at 35, became the youngest player to hit 600 home runs on Wednesday after a twoweek pursuit of the milestone. He has battled injuries over the last two years, most notably a right hip injury that required surgery before last year.
The incident continues a rough beginning to Berkman’s career as a Yankee. Since being traded at the deadline from Houston, he is batting .091 with one RBI after going 0-for-3 yesterday.
Now he has injured the team’s cleanup hitter, albeit accidentally. Ironically, Berkman was hitting from the right side, where his batting average this season is a miserable .185 and he hasn’t hit a ball hard in a while.
“Berkman’s contributions to the Yankees so far . . . not the greatest, and clearly this is not good,” Berkman said. “Obviously I didn’t mean to do it.
“Clearly, I’m sorry,” added Berkman, who apologized to Rodriguez as he walked off the field, “but it’s not like I was trying to hit him in the teeth
and missed lower.”