By MARK HALE
June 19, 2008
Maybe being hurt doesn't hurt so bad after all. At least not for Alex Rodriguez since his return from the disabled list.
A-Rod has been on fire since coming back. It could be because of the high number of at-bats he got during two extended spring games and one simulated game in his rehab from a strained quad. He played in three exhibition games in Tampa last month, and as hitting coach Kevin Long noted yesterday, he collected a staggering total of 25 at-bats.
"It's him taking the bull by the horns," Long said, "and saying, 'You know what? I'm going to make sure I'm ready.' "
Rodriguez had another brilliant one last night, homering for the fourth straight game while racking up three hits in the Yankees' 8-5 win over the Padres in The Bronx. The Yanks are now 19-9 since his return, and he's hitting .382 with 10 homers, 29 RBIs and six steals in those games.
"He's such a good player that we needed him to come and produce," Johnny Damon said, "and that's exactly what he's doing."
Rodriguez struck out in his first at-bat against reigning NL Cy Young Jake Peavy, but he came up in the third and blasted a solo homer to left on the first pitch he saw.
Asked if he was looking for something there, Rodriguez replied, "Just a baseball."
He added singles in the fifth and seventh, the latter driving in another run, and also stole a base.
Rodriguez, whose team went 6-11 while he was on the DL, didn't have any concerns about how he'd fare at the plate after coming back.
"Why would I?" he said yesterday afternoon. "No, not hitting. I was more just concerned about the acceleration and running and first step. Explosive movement, stuff like that."
