Alex Rodriguez. (Getty Images)
The Yankees found a surprising ally in their frustrations over Alex Rodriguez getting drilled with a fastball by Red Sox starter Ryan Dempster.
“I didn’t like it. I don’t think it was the right thing to do,” Dempster’s teammate David Ortiz told USA Today. “But we don’t all think alike, and the guy who did it, Dempster, is a great guy. It’s not that I didn’t think it was right because Alex and I are friends, because once you cross the white lines, everyone’s on their own.”
The feeling is that Dempster hit Rodriguez because of a “60 Minutes” report that he had leaked the names of Yankees teammate Francisco Cervelli and Brewers star Ryan Braun to Yahoo! Sports for their ties to Biogenesis, which led to both being suspended. Rodriguez is currently appealing his own 211-game suspension.
But Ortiz was worried about the ramifications of Dempster’s decision. The beaning led to both benches clearing, an ejection and fine for Yankees manager Joe Girardi and a farcical five-game suspension for Dempster. But that’s not what has Ortiz concerned.
The Red Sox would go on to lose Sunday’s game to the Yankees 9-6, thanks in part to a Rodriguez homer, and are 3-5 in their past eight games. As the Red Sox scuffle, the Rays have continued their dogged pursuit of the AL East lead and trail Boston by one game. And the once-left-for-dead Yankees have won four straight since the beaning and are 6 ½ games behind the Red Sox and four back of the A’s for the second wild-card spot.
“But we’ve got Tampa right on our heels, and that pitch woke up a monster in the Yankees’ team at that moment,” said Ortiz, who left Saturday’s game with A-Rod, according to the Boston Globe.
“You saw how the game ended up. CC [Sabathia] was throwing 91 [mph] and started throwing 96. Alex later hit one way out there. You’re talking about a good team that you can’t wake up. But we learn from our mistakes.”
Ortiz also seemed to agree with Rodriguez over the idea that the length of MLB’s suspension was tied to his contract, which has four years and $86 million left on it. A-Rod, who vowed Wednesday to keep quiet on the PED controversy, has contended that the Yankees and MLB were working together to help void his deal.
“I thought handing down a 200-plus-game suspension had something to do with his contract,” told the paper.
“And thinking in general terms, what’s good for me, what’s good for other players, what’s good for your kids if they decide to become ballplayers, you can’t let any team break a contract, because then the next time a player gets a DUI, or is charged with domestic violence or with any other thing, then the team may try to get out of a contract. They would have (precedent).”