Looks like Rodriguez has hit on postseason solution
ANAHEIM, Calif. - He is imposing sitting at No. 4 in the Yankees lineup, no matter how he is doing at the plate. But when Alex Rodriguez is playing well, when he is hitting well, there are few players who can compare. That time would be now.
“I don’t know how it feels, but that’s gotta feel like it’s a beach ball coming in,’’ Nick Swisher said. “He’s just doing a tremendous job. There’s been so many people that have played this game. I don’t know how many people have been doing what he’s doing right now. He’s having a tremendous postseason, and it couldn’t come at a better time for us.’’
With three more hits last night, including his fifth home run of this postseason, Rodriguez is now batting .407 in the first two rounds of the playoffs. He began the fourth inning with a single, which turned into three runs as the Yankees sent eight men to the plate. He extended it to a five-run lead with a two-run homer in the fifth, and he began the ninth with a double, in which the Yankees piled on three more runs in their 10-1 Game 4 win over the Angels.
That fifth homer in these playoffs tied him for second-best in Yankees history with Reggie Jackson. Bernie Williams had six in the 1996 postseason. Rodriguez now has homers in three straight games.
“The game slows down for you, no doubt about it,’’ Rodriguez said. “You feel like you want to see the ball and hit it hard and not try to do too much. But the best way I can describe it is you feel like the game is slowing down for you a little bit.’’
He said he feels comfortable, that he has since spring training, since he went through all the press conferences and criticism as he admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs. He said he didn’t have any expectations. He might have been the only one.
The only thing that matters now, though, is his comfort at the plate. Mostly because that comfort appears poised to send the Yankees on to the World Series.
“He’s swinging the bat, he’s doing a lot of things well,’’ Jorge Posada said. “He’s having great at-bats. He’s taking what they give him. He’s doing everything we can ask for. He really has been unbelievable. I don’t think he has to answer any of [the questions about his abilities]. I think he’s proven that he’s probably the best player in the big leagues.’’
Entering this postseason, there had been many questions. He had entered with a career .279 postseason batting average, seven home runs in 39 games, and a reputation for coming up smallest in the biggest games, regular or postseason. But these past seven games have done quite a bit to reverse those views.
“I will say that in other postseasons I failed, and sometimes failed miserably,’’ Rodriguez said. “It certainly feels good to come through for my team and help the team win.’’
