Alex Rodriguez’s 600th bang guides the New York Yankees to Victory
The day couldn’t have come sooner. Going into the game with a 12 game scoreless drought, 16 home runs tally for the season and a hitless record for the last 17 at-bats, Alex Rodriguez had the hard task of coming to terms with his ambition and aspirations.
The team was going into the match with the Toronto Blue Jays’ emphatic over their recent two consecutive wins in the Bronx stadium over the reigning champions of the American League Eastern Division. Derek Jeter, the captain of the home team had the task of rallying his best players in order and salvaging whatever reputation they had for the last match between the two ball clubs in a sprint.
According to sources, the skipper was in the backroom with the top hitter after the Tuesday’s game counselling him about what was needed first; telling him to concentrate on bunting or reaching the first base, first. However that advice didn’t matter once the game began yesterday night.
The Goliath stepped on to the centre stage in the bottom 1st, facing Ricky Romero’s replacement from the night before, Shaun Marcum. The pitcher was tasked, just as his predecessor, to quell the ‘Rodriguez threat’. Unfortunately for him, Alex was high on intent and swung the bat in a dominating fashion, sending the ball down the deep centre to bring up the Yankees’ first two runs with a crisp home run, in front of a crowd of 47,659 fans. The living legend followed his skipper to the last base where they slapped their outstretched hands in the air together and rejoiced at the hitter’s milestone achievement.
The two eventually made their way to the dugout where a horde of home team players congratulated and greeted them with great and understandable excitement. Till the bottom 3rd, things were quiet on both ends with the Toronto’s pitcher gaining some composure and the Yank’s Phil Hughes pitching well to hush the Jay’s offense.
The bottom 3rd brought another run to the board for the Yankees when Mark Teixeira whipped the ball to the deep right centre and allowed Jeter to make his sprint for the third run of the team. The action followed up in the top 4th, when Toronto Jays recorded their first run of the match by pouncing on the Yankees with players on the first and the second base.
When Lyle Overbay slotted the ball towards the right for the double, Jose Bautista completed his run from the second base to bring the deficit down by one run, changing the score line to 3 New York – 1 Toronto. However, this would mark the last of the Blue Birds’ attempt to change their score as they thwarted out of the match soon.
Teixeira found himself back in the limelight when the bottom 5th came into session. After Brett Gardner, Jeter and Nick Swisher positioned themselves on all bases, the in-form hitter singled to the centre, while Swisher and the skipper passed the last base to convert the total score to 5 Yankees – 1 Jays. The rest of the night went on without any other significant event as the Jays replaced Marcum in the bottom 7th and brought in relieve pitchers. The home team, on the other hand, did the same with their pitcher, Hughes, but a bit earlier on, in the top 6th, bringing in the relievers.
The game ended the Yankees’ losing streak as the team found themselves on par for top position with the Tampa Bay Rays, who lost their match against the Minnesota Twins. With the win, manager Joe Girardi was happy, as he wished the change in fates was what he really was hoping for, citing the return of his main players from rest.
The home team fans look relieved now as the Yanks look to go into their next game with a positive notch on their efforts, bringing much anticipation from the players; especially Jeter, who is looking more and more like a Yankees captain, this season, as he takes credit for three runs in the game last night.
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