A-Rod in right state of mind this October

[October 20, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- With runners on first and second in the 12th inning early Sunday, the "A-Rod!" chants started swelling at Yankee Stadium. Only thing is, All-Star Mark Teixeira was still at-bat.

My how things have changed for Alex Rodriguez.

In postseasons past, New York Yankees fans were merciless as Rodriguez foundered. Now they're fawning over him -- even while an MVP candidate is taking his swings.

So far this October belongs to Rodriguez, and the Yankees have ridden their troubled slugger within two wins from his first trip to the World Series -- and New York's first since 2003.

"I know you guys are probably looking for something profound," Rodriguez said. "I mean, I'm just in a good place. I'm seeing the ball and I'm hitting it. I mean, that's about it."

Rodriguez's latest feat: a tying homer in the 11th inning in Game 2 of the American League championship series. The Yankees went on to win the wet, sloppy game, beating the Los Angeles Angels 4-3 in 13 innings to take a two-game lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 3 is Monday in sunny Anaheim with the Yankees' Andy Pettitte and the Angels' Jered Weaver getting the start.

"I just kept yelling, 'He did it again! He did it again!'" Teixeira said of his reaction from the dugout.

Teixeira is right. Rodriguez keeps doing it. The homer was his third of the playoffs, all coming in the seventh inning or later and all tying the game.

After going 8 for 59 (.136) in the playoffs dating to 2004 -- 0 for 18 with runners in scoring position -- A-Rod has quashed the questions about his mental makeup for another postseason in New York, emphatically.

Much like Barry Bonds, who had a breakout October for the Giants in 2002 with eight homers and a World Series loss to the Angels after years of glaring failures, Rodriguez is on a tear.

He has at least one hit and an RBI in all five games this postseason, all New York victories, and has played superb defense. Rodriguez went 5 for 11 with two homers and six RBIs in a three-game sweep of the Twins in the division series.

While he has only two hits in the LCS, he still appears comfortable at the plate, driving the ball the opposite way.

"He's getting hits, that's the bottom line," Derek Jeter said. "He's basically taking what he did in the regular season and carrying it over to the postseason."

Rodriguez's season got off to a dreadful start and that might have been the best thing could have happened to him.

"I think going back to me in spring training. It was a rough one," Rodriguez said. "I thought making things simple was the best thing for me."

After admitting to steroid use and holding a bizarrely orchestrated press conference, Rodriguez had hip surgery that kept him away from the team until early May. But he returned with a new outlook that has kept the drama on the field.

He hit a three-run homer on his first pitch of the season May 8 and hit a grand slam on the last to give him 30 homers and 100 RBIs.

"It's almost to the point we know he has it," Nick Swisher said of his late-inning hits. "This is 2009. He's having a great year."

If the Angels are going to rally from the 2-0 deficit not only are they going to have to figure out how to stop Rodriguez, who has 37 homers and 82 RBIs in 349 at-bats at Angel Stadium, but they are going to have to get back to playing the sound fundamental baseball that helped them win 97 games.

Los Angeles made five errors in two games in chilly New York, the most glaring being Maicer Izturis' error in the 13th that gave the Yankees the win. They are also batting .154, with Chone Figgins, Bobby Abreu and Vladimir Guerrero a combined 3 for 27 (.111) with one RBI.

"That's very uncharacteristic of this team. This is not our baseball. We're not playing up to our capabilities right now," Torii Hunter said. "Offensively and defensively, man, we need to come through a little more."

Manager Mike Scioscia is confident the Angels can turn it around.

"We're going back home," he said. "The momentum in this series can swing in a heartbeat."

[Associated Press; By HOWIE RUMBERG]

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