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 It was never more evident than Thursday when the New York Yankees
designated hitter stepped into the batter's box with nobody out in
the bottom of the eighth inning, needing one hit to reach 3,000 for
his career.
Rodriguez reached that point by getting singles in the first and
fifth innings but remained one shy of the milestone when his final
plate appearance of New York's 9-4 victory over the Miami Marlins
resulted in a four-pitch walk.
Rodriguez had singles in the first and fifth for hits No. 2,998 and
No. 2,999. His first opportunity for No. 3,000 came in the sixth,
and as soon as he walked to the plate, thousands of flashbulbs of
cameras appeared in anticipation.
"The crowd's been amazing all year," Rodriguez said. "That was
phenomenal. It was a great night, a great win. I felt great. The
fans were phenomenal."
Rodriguez did not get the hit that time against left-hander Michael
Dunn (1-4) as he lined out to right field on the first pitch. Two
innings later, the flashbulbs popped up again when he faced Sam
Dyson and the only pictures anyone took was of Rodriguez taking four
straight fastballs inside and drawing a walk.
"I don't know how to describe it," Rodriguez said. "It feels great.
Every time that moments like that happen, I just reflect upon a year
ago today."
At the time of his second attempt at 3,000 hits, the Yankees had a
5-3 lead on two-run home runs by left fielder Brett Gardner off
Miami starter Matt Latos and right fielder Carlos Beltran off Dunn.
Rodriguez was trying to keep the eighth going anyway he could but
when Dyson threw four straight balls, the crowd of 38,239 fans
expressed their disappointment with profane chants at Dyson.
"If he was going to beat me he was going to have to get the head (of
the bat) out," Dyson said. "I ended up throwing four balls kind of
at his belt off the plate."
"I think the crowd wanted to see it and I think that's the bottom
line and I understand that," New York manager Joe Girardi said. "I'm
sure the young man was trying to get him out. He just threw a bunch
of sinkers that were too far inside and Alex didn't even swing."
"We were on the attack with it," Miami manager Dan Jennings said of
the eighth. "We just missed inside. We wanted to get the fastball in
and we missed four times in a row. Sometimes that happens. That
environment may have played a factor, I don't know. We wanted to get
in there and pitch him inside and we just missed."
Rodriguez wound up being involved in other ways that inning when the
Yankees scored four times on an RBI single by catcher Brian McCann,
a wild pitch by Dyson, a double by right fielder Chris Young and a
sacrifice fly by second baseman Stephen Drew.
That staked the Yankees to a 9-3 lead and Rodriguez actually was
three hitters away when the inning ended on a groundout by rookie
center fielder Mason Williams.
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"Everybody's excited. I went back out (to watch)," said New York
left-hander CC Sabathia, who allowed three runs and five hits in six
innings. "I was out of the game. I went back out, I wanted to see
the 3,000th hit. So hopefully he gets it tomorrow."
Before the Yankees surged ahead, Miami built a 3-1 lead by scoring
in three consecutive innings.
Right fielder Giancarlo Stanton hit his 25th home run with one out
in the sixth. Stanton's mammoth blast to left field came after left
fielder Christian Yelich had an RBI groundout in the fourth and
catcher Jeff Mathis lifted a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
After Sabathia finished his outing, Chasen Shreve (4-1) pitched a
scoreless seventh for the win. Justin Wilson pitched the eighth and
Sergio Santos allowed an RBI single to catcher Jeff Mathis but
struck out second baseman Dee Gordon for the final out.
Besides allowing the two hits to Rodriguez, Latos allowed three runs
and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. He also wasn't thrilled with
discussing Rodriguez.
"Next question, no, it's debatable (if his 3,000th hit matters),
next question."
NOTES: The Marlins placed 3B Martin Prado on the disabled list with
a sprained right shoulder and purchased the contract of C Jhonatan
Solano from Triple-A New Orleans. ... Yankees CF Jacoby Ellsbury
(sprained right knee) did some running before the game, going from
first to third numerous times while the team was doing early
stretching. ... New York DH Alex Rodriguez said he donated the bat
used to collect his 2,000th RBI to the Baseball Hall of Fame. ...
Miami RHP Jose Fernandez (Tommy John surgery) will make his next
rehab start Monday for Class A Jupiter. Marlins RHP Jarred Cosart
(vertigo, right hamstring tightness) will make one more rehab start
for Double-A Jacksonville. ... The Yankees said RHP Nathan Eovaldi
will start Saturday against Detroit after throwing just 36 pitches
Tuesday in a 12-2 loss at Miami.
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