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NEW YORK —On Tuesday night, after another mediocre game at the plate,
Alex Rodriguez insisted he was ready to go on a tear. Robert Mathis Jersey . He knew what he was
talking about. A-Rod gave Will Smith a rude welcome to the major leagues
Wednesday night, hitting two homers off the rookie to back another strong start
for Andy Pettitte and lead the New York Yankees over the Kansas City Royals 8-3.
“I said it with conviction not because it was going to sound good here in my
locker but because I felt it,” Rodriguez said. “Its good to back that up.”
Rodriguez snapped a 52 at-bat homerless drought and drove in three runs for New
York. Curtis Granderson also connected off Smith and the Yankees scored three
times in the fifth with help from some inept relief pitching. Derek Jeter had
three hits to tie Paul Waner for 15th with 3,152. Before Jeter singled in the
eighth, Waner had been the only player who reached a bigger hits milestone than
Jeter in a Yankees uniform. “Big Poison” got just one hit with New York, his
final one in a career spent mostly in Pittsburgh. New York scored as many as
three runs in the first inning for the first time in 31 games since April 19 and
finished a 3-3 homestand. The Yankees start a 10-game trip at Oakland on Friday
following their first consecutive wins since taking three in a row from May
10-12. Pettitte (2-1) followed eight innings of four-hit ball against Cincinnati
with seven-plus crafty innings in his third start since coming out of
retirement. He gave Smith a lesson in mixing pitches and working out of
difficult situations. “I feel like Im moving the ball around the zone and that
makes it difficult to hit,” Pettitte said. In the third inning, first baseman
Mark Teixeira started a double play with a diving stop. Pettitte got out of a
bases loaded jam in the fourth with a strikeout—one of his eight Ks—giving
a slight fist pump walking off the mound. “Hes as good as Ive ever seen over
there,” Pettitte said about Teixeira. Pettitte gave up seven hits, including
homers to Billy Butler and Mitch Maier. The 39-year-old left-hander has not lost
to Kansas City since 1999. In 24 games against the Royals, he is 14-3. “I faced
him before he retired and now after he came back, and I actually see things
different that hes doing,” Butler said. “Hes throwing more off-speed stuff, more
curveballs and changeups. Before it was 90 to 94 with hard cut in on you. You
knew he was throwing it and he knew you knew he was throwing it, and it was
going to beat you. But hes crafted his game and his last two starts have been
great.” Smith (0-1), a 22-year old called up from Triple-A Omaha on Tuesday—
not the actor with a movie coming out this weekend—started off with an out
for the scrapbook: He got Jeter to hit a grounder to shortstop. But it was rocky
the rest of the first for the lefty who was two months shy of 6 when Pettitte
made his debut in 1995. “I was nervous a little bit, facing a future Hall of
Famer to start your career, in Derek Jeter,” Smith said. “That was cool at the
same time, but you still got to go out there and make your pitches and get
people out.” Granderson homered to deep right on a 1-2 pitch. TV showed Smiths
mom in the stands shaking her head: welcome to the big leagues, son. After a
walk to Teixeira, A-Rod crushed a ball into the left field stands for a 3-0
lead. By the time Nick Swisher hit a pop up with two outs, Smiths mom couldnt
watch: she had covered her face with her hands. It was an out, mom. When
Rodriguez homered in the third to centre field, mom sat stunned with her hands
behind her head. “She was nervous. Shes been like that since I was in high
school,” Smith said. “She and my dad … my dad used to pace around the stadium.
They always get nervous and always will be.” Rodriguez had just one RBI since he
last homered and drove in three runs on May 6 at Kansas City, 15 games ago. It
was Rodriguezs 60th multihomer game. Smith was lifted after giving up a one-out
single in the fourth. He yielded five runs and six hits in 3 1-3 innings.
Luis Mendoza, the pitcher originally slated to start Wednesday night, relieved.
Rodriguez came up in the fifth with the bases loaded and grounded into a
fielders choice. Jeter, who bunted for a hit, was forced out at home. The
Yankees came in 8 for 41 (.195) with the bases loaded but they didnt need a hit
in that situation in the fifth to score their runs. The Yankees walked three
times and were twice hit by pitches in the inning. Robinson Cano had an RBI
fielders choice—a nice diving stop by shortstop Alcides Escobar—and
Andruw Jones and Teixeira, back in the 3-hole after two games batting seventh,
walked to force in runs. “Its a club that a lot of times works the count really
well and is going to have its share of walks,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.
Eric Hosmer went 3 for 4 with an RBI to raise his average to .191 for the
Royals. NOTES: The Royals dropped to 4-3 in the deciding game of series this
season. ... New York went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position, leaving the
Yankees 9 for 85 (.106) in their last nine games. Dwight Freeney Jersey . —A win is a win to
the Trail Blazers. Andrew Luck Womens Jersey . Pistorius, who
made history by becoming the first amputee to compete at an able-bodied Games,
was to run the third leg of the race. But as Mogawane – South Africas second
runner – rounded the corner to the final straightaway, his feet got tangled with
Kenyas Vincent Mumo Kilu, and both tumbled to the ground. http://www.coltsteamstore.com/johnny-unitas-jersey
. The Burnaby, B.C., native was elected the new president of the CSA on Saturday
at its annual general meeting and said his vision is for a new culture within
the sports national governing body. Andrew Luck Elite Jersey . Not only dont they
care about the achievements, sometimes they arent even aware of them.
Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards scored early, and defenceman Michael Del Zotto
had two goals in the third period as the NHL-leading Rangers won their fourth in
a row and moved closer to securing the top seed in the Eastern Conference
playoffs with a 4-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night. Andrew Luck
Jersey .C. Place on Feb. 12, 2010, tens of thousands of people
would like that final torchbearer to be Betty Fox. SEATTLE —For the second
straight outing, Seattle Mariners starter Kevin Millwood was unable to hold onto
a lead in a game Seattle would go on to lose. The Mariners rallied from a 2-0
deficit to take a 4-2 lead over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday afternoon. But
the lead wouldnt hold as the White Sox capitalized on Millwoods (0-1) mistakes
in the sixth inning to retake the lead and earn a series sweep over the Mariners
with a 7-4 victory. “It came down to the fact that when I need to make a pitch
to get out of an inning or get out of a jam, I wasnt able to do it,” Millwood
said. “I felt good, felt my stuff was good, I just didnt make pitches when I
needed to.” In his previous start, the Mariners jumped out to a 8-1 lead against
Cleveland before the Indians scored seven runs off Millwood to tie the game.
Seattle would go on to lose 9-8 to the Indians. “Panic is definitely not the
answer,” Millwood said of Seattles losing streak. “Were a pitch here and there
from holding teams down. Its one of those things youve got to get through.
Hopefully there will be more good stretches than bad.” Adam Dunn drew a leadoff
walk to start the sixth inning. Paul Konerko singled and after a groundout,
Alex Rios tripled to the wall in right-centre field that evened the game at 4. A
sacrifice fly by Kosuke Fukudome scored Rios from third and gave the White Sox a
lead they wouldnt relinquish. Rios and Fukudome added RBI singles in the eighth
against Tom Wilhelmsen. “That was a big one,” manager Eric Wedge said. “But
thats where we have to come right back and go get them. When you give it up like
that you have to come right back and answer. We didnt do that.” A day after Phil
Humber pitched a perfect game for the White Sox, John Danks (22-2) went six
innings for the win. Reggie Wayne Womens Jersey. Hector Santiago
pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth save of the season, closing out Chicagos
19th victory in its last 22 games against the Mariners and second straight sweep
in Seattle. The White Sox bullpen combined for three innings of work, allowing
just one hit and striking out five. “They have some good lefties in their pen
that really make it rough,” second baseman Dustin Ackley said. “You might get
one pitch to hit and if you miss it, it is tough from there on out.” The White
Sox took a 2-0 lead in the third on a double by Alexei Ramirez that left fielder
Casper Wells misplayed for an error, and an RBI single by Dunn. Seattle tied it
in the bottom half. Chone Figgins led off with a walk and Ichiro Suzuki singled,
setting up an RBI single by Jesus Montero and an RBI double by Alex Liddi.
Fukudome walked in the fourth and moved up on a wild pitch, but was thrown out
at the plate by Suzuki on Brent Morels single to right field. Miguel Olivo and
Wells hit consecutive singles to lead off the fourth. With Brendan Ryan
attempting to bunt, the infield was pulled up when Danks tried a pickoff throw
at first that Dunn never saw coming. Danks error allowed Olivo to score and
Dustin Ackley drove in a run with a grounder for a 4-2 lead. NOTES: Seattle 1B
Justin Smoak got a scheduled day off and Liddi started in his place. ... Chicago
manager Robin Ventura gave CF Alejandro De Aza the day off with Fukudome
starting in his place. De Aza had played every inning of the first 14 games of
the year in centre for Chicago. De Aza pinch-ran for DH Konerko in the eighth.
... White Sox reliever Addison Reed pitched a scoreless seventh, striking out
the side. ’ ’ ’