A-Rod Blasts 300th Home Run as Yankees Reclaim First Place
By Josh Hill
Alex Rodriguez blasted his 300th home run as a Yankee Friday night (645th overall), but it was far more important than he had ever hoped it would be. Not only did A-Rod reach a milestone in his career, in doing so he helped propel the Yankees back into first place in the American League East ahead of the Baltimore Orioles.
A night after the O’s rocketed 6 home runs in a winning effort, the Yankees used three giant bombs from Russell Martin, Steve Pearce and the aforementioned Rodriguez to not only down Baltimore, but try to get back on track and break out of the recent slump that they’ve been in as of late. Rodriguez said after the game that he was so focused on winning the ballgame, he had no idea a milestone was on the other side of his giant swing.
”I had no idea I had 300,” Rodriguez said. ”The only numbers we’re worried about right now is Ws. Whatever you are going to do for the year is already done. The numbers are done. We’re worried about one thing and that’s winning games.”
The Yankees taking back first place is the next episode of an ongoing battle between the two A.L. East power players. Baltimore has been the darlings of baseball along with the Washington Nationals, and took over first place for the first time since before 1997 last night. Behind the power of superstar Adam Jones and stud Nate McLouth, the Orioles have come up fast on the Yankees and are pressing them for all their worth.
Baltimore has been aided by a slump by the Bombers, who coming into tonight’s game had lost 6 of their last 10 games and are still just 3-4 so far in the month of September. The Orioles, on the other hand, are on the exact opposite of that spectrum winning 6 of their last 10 before tonight.
With two more games left this season against the Yankees, things are going to get tight between Baltimore and the Bombers down the stretch. Baltimore has a chance to get a full game up on the Yankees but they get a tough series against contending Oakland after a series against the Rays. Baltimore does get a slight break with a series against the Mariners and two with with Red Sox before the season is done.
New York has a chance to get three full games up on the Orioles and regain some breathing room, as they too have a series with the A’s before the season is done, but they also get soft series’ against the Red Sox and Twins before everything is all said and done. It’s going to be an intense ride to the end of the season, but these last two games may very well not be the last time this season these two teams meet.