Rodriguez plugged into power surge

All Alex Rodriguez could think about was the first pitch to Jason Giambi, who followed him in the Yankees' batting order.

It was the top of the fifth inning, Rodriguez had just launched a home run to right-center field on a 1-and-2 pitch, and Red Sox center fielder Coco Crisp had leaped against the bullpen wall in an attempt to catch it. Crisp had fallen into the pen and Rodriguez didn't know what had happened, so he kept running the bases, crossed home plate, and waited for Giambi to step into the batter's box. He didn't realize until well after that Crisp hadn't made the catch.

"I was hoping the umpire didn't call it an out because I didn't know the rule," said Rodriguez, whose second home run of the night off Sox starter Curt Schilling made it 5-2, but wasn't enough as the Yankees lost, 7-6. "It went over the fence. I was kind of [shaking] in my pants a little bit. But when he called it a home run, I was just trying to spin around the bases so they don't call it back. I really just [breathed] a sigh of relief when Jason got his first pitch. So, I didn't have time to enjoy that one."

Rodriguez also had homered in the fourth inning on an 0-and-1 pitch to make it 2-0. He has homered at least once in four straight games (five in that span and 12 for the season). He extended his hitting streak to 15 games this year (20 dating to last season). He's the first Yankee to hit safely in the first 15 games of a season since Willie Randolph in 1986. Rodriguez's two homers gave him 476 for his career, moving him past Stan Musial and Willie Stargell for sole possession of 25th on baseball's all-time list.

Rodriguez played down his impressive start, saying he's just trying to keep it simple.

"I'm not trying to do too much or overthink myself," he said. "That's about it."

If he was reluctant to talk about himself, his teammates weren't.

"He's unbelievable right now," said Andy Pettitte, who got a no-decision, giving up two runs in 6 1/3 innings. "I'm glad he's on my side, that's for sure. Like I tell him, 'Just keep your head down and just keep focused and don't let nothing get to you right now,' and hopefully he can ride it as long as he can. I've never played with him before, so I've never seen anybody play like this before. It's definitely surprising. You just wouldn't think a guy could hit the ball like he is. He's not getting singles. He's just crushing the ball all over the field. It's absolutely amazing to watch."

As well as Rodriguez performed, he was disappointed the Yankees couldn't withstand the Sox' five-run rally in the eighth inning.

"A lead is never safe in this park and we know that," said Rodriguez. "We've been playing here a long time. A five-run lead is like a two-run lead. It's just one of those things."

In Rodriguez's final at-bat, with the Sox up, 7-6, in the ninth, he had a chance to respond, but lefthander Hideki Okajima got him to line out to Alex Cora at second for New York's second out.

"He made a good pitch," said Rodriguez. "Give the kid credit. He made a hell of a pitch on 3-2 and I tip my cap. It was a cutter in, a strike. Throughout the whole at-bat, he didn't give me one fat pitch."

Pettitte said the Yankees will find a way to shake off the loss.

"It's frustrating, but what are you going to do?" he said. "You're just shocked when you see it happen. It's a shame we couldn't get this one. It's the first of the series and it would've been a nice one to get.

"They've got a great lineup. They've got a tough lineup to go through and you've got to give them a lot of credit. They kept fighting. We've got to come back and get them tomorrow."

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at Marrapese@globe.com.