Yankees DH Alex Rodiguez entered Sunday’s game against the Mariners hitting a paltry .100 over his first 35 plate appearances, and hadn’t recorded a hit since homering off of Mike Pelfrey on April 9. The slide forced manager Joe Girardi to drop Rodriguez to sixth in the lineup, but the veteran responded in a big way.
With a runner on first base and no outs in the second inning, Rodriguez swung at a first-pitch fastball from Hisashi Iwakuma and deposited it deep into the stands in left field, giving the Yankees a 2-1 lead. It’s the 689th home run of his career, inching him closer to Babe Ruth (714) for third place on baseball’s all-time home run leaderboard.
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Rodriguez finished 1-for-4 on the afternoon. The Yankees are off Monday, then continue their homestand with a three-game series against the Athletics starting on Tuesday.