After sitting on the bench unused for much of the past month, Rodriguez was in the lineup as the designated hitter and batting third against the Tampa Bay Rays, his 2,784th and perhaps final regular-season game as a major league player in a career that started with Seattle in 1994, moved on to Texas in 2001 and then NY three years later.
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As for not playing third base Friday, which A-Rod first revealed on the Michael Kay Show on 98.7 FM in NY, the slugger took it in stride.
Owner Hal Steinbrenner told him on August 3 the end was at hand, and Rodriguez said last Sunday he had accepted an offer to play one final home game and then become a team adviser through 2017, tasked with mentoring young players.
“No”, Rodriguez said before he went 0-for-4 with an RBI groundout in the Yankees’ 4-2 win over the Red Sox on Thursday night at Fenway Park.
“I’ve struggled with my swing, I’ve said that all along”, A-Rod said.
Ramirez had two three-run homers for six RBIs, David Ortiz added a homer and the Red Sox beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 9-4 on Friday night.
Hanley Ramirez drove in both runs for Boston, which holds a half-game lead on the Detroit Tigers for the second AL wild card.
In a game-changing three-run eighth inning, though, Rodriguez played his part, however small. It was an impressive performance by Rodriguez, with the only blemish coming from a solo home run over the Green Monster by Austin Romine.
And that pretty much summed up his night, as he went 0-for-4, failing to get the ball out of the infield against either starter Eduardo Rodriguez or Ziegler.
Ramirez later was knocked down in a collision by Gary Sanchez while trying to field a bounced throw at first base.
It was the 20th multi-homer game for Ramirez. “I felt [Wednesday] night I was close, off a tough pitcher”.
The 21-year-old entered yesterday hitting.284 with a.910 OPS and the Sox hope the move to third gives him more versatility should they summon him to the big leagues.
Rodriguez handed over a bat to a young boy he said he made a deal with in the first inning. “We got in good situations; the score allowed us to do that a lot”. He hit two fly balls caught by the second baseman, and one groundball fielded by the catcher. “He told me what the plan was and I said, ‘Well, any chance I could play third base on Friday?’ He just said no”.
Yankees: RHP Nathan Eovaldi had an MRI on his pitching elbow and was evaluated by team physician Dr. Christopher Ahmad. “Until we have that second opinion, we’re not going to release anything”, manager Joe Girardi said.
Diamondbacks: RHP Archie Bradley (4-7, 4.80 ERA) has posted a 2.03 ERA over his last six road starts, while surrendering just one home run and limiting opponents to a.222 batting average over that span.
“He’s in with those two other names in the history of this franchise, and that’s a special sentence when you’re in with (Williams and Yastrzemski)”, Red Sox manager John Farrell said.
Red Sox: LHP David Price (9-8, 4.34) tries again to snap out of a slump when Boston opens a three-game series at home against Arizona.
Bradley, once 3-3 on the season but with only one win in his last nine starts, has failed to last five innings in his last two.
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Mike Montgomery (4-5) allowed a single and two walks to load the bases in the 11th before striking out Matt Carpenter.
