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Rodriguez continues April magic, beats Indians with homer

Apr 20, 2007 - 6:33 AM BRONX, New York (Ticker) -- Alex Rodriguez is clearly a closer's worst nightmare.

Rodriguez hit a game-winning, three-run homer off closer Joe Borowski in the ninth inning as the New York Yankees rallied for an 8-6 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

With the Yankees already scoring three runs in the ninth after two out to close within 6-5, Rodriguez drilled a 1-0 pitch from Borowski (0-1) to center field for his major league-leading 10th home run of the season.

"It's exciting, especially at the stadium," Rodriguez said. "The fans were (waiting) for a big win. They were into it and it's exciting."

It was the second game-winning blast for the two-time American League MVP, including a grand slam against Baltimore closer Chris Ray in a 10-7 triumph here on April 7.

"He's swinging the bat really well," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "This was great."

"He's been a huge asset for us," New York general manager Brian Cashman added. "He continues to push us into the win column."

Last year, Rodriguez did not hit his 10th home run until May 22 in Boston. On Thursday, he became the first player in American League history to hit 10 home runs in the first 14 games of the season.

"I don't ... I've never had a player with this ability," Torre said. "He's certainly capable of hitting it out of any ballpark. I've had some pretty good players that have but Alex is certainly ability-wise ... I don't think anybody matches him."

"You enjoy it, you appreciate it, but I can't relate to it," Yankees captain Derek Jeter said. "You'll never see me do it. It's fun to watch. No one has ever done it, so everyone should enjoy it because I don't know if you'll see it happen again."

With his latest heroics, Rodriguez made up for a throwing error that allowed the Indians to grab a 6-2 lead in the top of the ninth. He also atoned for going hitless in his first four at-bats, which included a pair of strikeouts.

Looking to nail down his sixth save in as many chances this season, Borowski came on in the bottom half and recorded two straight outs before Josh Phelps hit his first homer of the season to left field.

"It was a tough one obviously," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. "You got two outs and nobody on and a four-run lead and they just kept coming and kept stringing at-bats together and put themselves in a position to win a ballgame."

"I go out there and get two quick outs and then all of a sudden it looked like it was 4:00 p.m. out there, like batting practice," Borowski said. "Fastballs, breaking balls, up, down, in and out. They just hit everything. It's a shame because everybody played great and that's the last thing I foresaw coming."

Jorge Posada singled to center and advanced to second on defensive indifference before Johnny Damon worked out a walk. Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu both singled home a run to make it 6-5 before Borowski unleashed a wild pitch on his first offering to Rodriguez to allow both runners to move up a base.

Rodriguez drilled the next pitch, running around first base with his hands raised in celebration. Even if the ball stayed in, the Yankees would have won because center fielder Grady Sizemore was playing shallow for a possible play at the plate.

"I just wanted to hit the ball hard," Rodriguez said. "I knew that Sizemore was playing me pretty shallow. So the minute I hit it I knew the game was over."

"You throw the first pitch, the winning run is on second, you got to be a little more careful because he could do exactly what he just did at any time," Borowski said. "I threw a fastball outside and he went out and got it. He's strong enough to get it out there and he's been doing it all year."

Yankees reliever Sean Henn (1-0) allowed an unearned run and two hits in the ninth to pick up the win.

Abreu also singled home a run in the third inning and Jason Giambi snapped a 1-1 tie with a solo homer in the sixth for New York, which swept the three-game series prior to traveling to Boston for a weekend set.

It appeared as if Cleveland would salvage the finale of the three-game series after Victor Martinez finally cashed in on one of numerous offensive chances.

Martinez hit a three-run homer in the seventh off Luis Vizcaino for his first home run of the season, giving the Indians a 5-2 advantage.

It was the second longball of the game for Cleveland, which left the bases loaded in the fourth and the sixth prior to Martinez's shot. The Indians stranded 10 runners and were 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

However, the rally by the Yankees spoiled a strong start by Fausto Carmona, who was looking to snap a string of 11 consecutive losing decisions. The 23-year-old righthander allowed two runs and six hits in six innings with two strikeouts.

Martinez finished with two hits and David Dellucci added two RBI for Cleveland, including a home run in the fourth off New York starter Darrell Rasner, who allowed a run and four hits in 4 1/3 frames.

The Indians had a chance to open up a 1-1 game in the sixth, when Ryan Garko loaded the bases against Yankees reliever Brian Bruney by fighting off 10 pitches for a single. However, Bruney escaped the jam unharmed, getting Casey Blake to line out to third base, Jhonny Peralta to pop up and Mike Rouse to fly out.

New York took advantage of Cleveland's lack of hitting in the clutch, as Giambi homered in the bottom half off Carmona.

Despite the second homer in as many games for Giambi, the Yankees found themselves trailing 5-2 in the eighth when Rodriguez spoiled a chance to ignite a rally, popping up to third base with one out and Abreu at first.

However, Rodriguez had a reprieve, homering for third straight game and raising his major league-leading RBI total to 26.

"He seems comfortable, he seems balanced," Jeter said. "He was swinging the bat well the last week of spring training and it has carried over to the regular season."