Yankees take two of three from Minnesota
Published 12:00 am Monday, September 4, 2006
NEW YORK (AP) &8212; Now that Alex Rodriguez&8217;s slump is over, he looks unstoppable.
Rodriguez hit two more homers Sunday and drove in five runs, and Darrell Rasner pitched six impressive innings for his first major league win to lead the New York Yankees past the Minnesota Twins 10-1.
Going into Thursday, A-Rod was in a 1-for-24 skid that left fans booing him at Yankee Stadium again. Since then, he&8217;s hit five homers in four days &8212; and he almost certainly would have had another one if not for a fierce wind on Saturday.
&8220;It&8217;s been fun because the team has been playing so well,&8221; Rodriguez said. &8220;I think everybody&8217;s been a lot more panicked than I have.&8221;
Bobby Abreu doubled three times, and Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano added three hits apiece for the AL East-leading Yankees, who took two of three games from Minnesota in a possible playoff preview. New York leads Boston by a season-high nine games in the East.
They never needed Mariano Rivera, either. The star closer was unavailable all weekend because of a stiff elbow.
Rodriguez hit a solo shot off Matt Garza (1-4) in the fifth inning and a three-run drive off Pat Neshek in the seventh, reaching 30 homers and 100 RBIs for the ninth straight season.
Jimmie Foxx is the only player with a longer streak, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He did it 12 straight years from 1929-40.
&8220;He kept working at it. He wasn&8217;t quitting on anybody. It&8217;s just great to see much more relaxed at-bats out of him,&8221; Yankees manager Joe Torre said. &8220;He can put numbers up like nobody, with his ability.&8221;
Torii Hunter homered for the slumping Twins, who have scored only 15 runs while going 2-5 in their past seven games. Minnesota, a half-game behind Chicago in the AL wild-card race, dropped to 2-13 at Yankee Stadium since 2002.
&8220;The Yankees have a $200 million payroll, and we play for minimum wage,&8221; Hunter said.
Recalled from Triple-A Columbus before the game, the 25-year-old Rasner (1-0) allowed four hits and walked none in his second big league start &8212; and first for the Yankees.
Pitching before a sellout crowd of 55,155, he kept his poise in the third, when he escaped a first-and-third jam with no outs.
&8220;The turning point of the game,&8221; Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. &8220;That changed the momentum.&8221;
Rasner was claimed off waivers from Washington in February and went 4-0 with a 2.56 ERA in 10 starts at Columbus this year. The right-hander was on the disabled list from June 2 to Aug. 23 with a sore shoulder.
&8220;I don&8217;t think it gets any better than this,&8221; he said. &8220;It&8217;s very exciting.&8221;
Mike Myers got two outs in his 800th career appearance, and Scott Proctor worked 1 1-3 hitless innings before Kyle Farnsworth closed it out.
Hunter homered on a 3-0 pitch in the second, his 23rd this season and second in two days.
The Yankees took control with a four-run third.
Derek Jeter walked and scored from first on Abreu&8217;s double. Posada hit a two-out RBI single and Cano blooped a two-run double that got past a sliding Jason Tyner in left field.
Rodriguez added an RBI single in a two-run eighth, leaving him with 31 homers and 104 RBIs. He has 44 career multihomer games, including four this season.