Sports

Baseball

Yanks explode out of skid

Associated Press
Published June 9, 2005

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MILWAUKEE - It was just a matter of time before Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees snapped out of it, at least for a day.

A-Rod became the youngest member of the 400-homer club, and a change in routine got the Yankees back on the winning track with a 12-3 rout of the Brewers on Wednesday night.

"It was a very special day for me, especially if you do it in a win that we needed most desperately," Rodriguez said after the Yankees won for the second time in 11 games.

Manager Joe Torre went to drastic measures to snap his slumping team out of its latest funk, canceling batting practice, juggling his lineup by sitting Hideki Matsui for the first eight innings and even getting ejected for arguing.

Something worked.

A team that had scored 20 overall and hit .140 with runners in scoring position while losing seven of their first eight on a season-long 12-game road trip collected 16 hits and scored its most in two weeks.

Mike Mussina was the beneficiary of the offensive breakthrough led by Rodriguez, who homered twice, went 4-for-4 and drove in four, his first RBIs of the trip.

Rodriguez's two-run shot off left-hander Chris Capuano in the first was his 399th, and his shot off left-hander Jorge De La Rosa in the eighth made the third baseman, 29, the 40th player to reach 400.

"That's pretty incredible," Torre said. "The shape he's in, the way he works, who knows where he's going."

The crowd of 37,586 gave A-Rod a polite standing ovation as he circled the bases.

"It's a special number," Rodriguez said. "I'm actually just excited to do it with this uniform on."

New York batting practice pitcher Roman Rodriguez caught the historic homer in the Yankees bullpen and acted as if he was going to flip it into the stands before holding onto it with a sly smile.

A-Rod posed for pictures with his bat and ball after the game.

Mussina gave up three runs and six hits in six innings, including Carlos Lee's 15th homer. He walked one and struck out eight.

"I think we were just hoping for a nice win," Mussina said. "It didn't have to be 12-3, but today we got some big hits. It's been a tough trip so far, but hopefully we can pull something out of this as we go to the last city of the four (St. Louis)."

Derek Jeter and rookie Robinson Cano also homered for the Yankees, who denied the Brewers a three-game sweep.

[Last modified June 9, 2005, 01:18:46]

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