This capped off quite a week for A-Rod.
He had a rough go of it when paparazzi photographed him with a woman in Toronto. Then there was the fiasco at the Rogers Centre when he ran by rookie third baseman Howie Clark and claimed he shouted "Ha!," which made Clark back off a popup that fell in for a hit. Then he came to Boston, an unforgiving place if you're a Yankee.
After the game, Rodriguez had a smile on his face for the first time in a while. He was enjoying a meal of steak tips and shrimp, chatting with Derek Jeter about his at-bat against Papelbon.
"It was just good to get a win," said Rodriguez about the magnitude of his 20th homer, marking the 12th consecutive season he has hit 20 or more. "It was a good swing but not that good. My best two swings of the night were against Brendan Donnelly, especially on the ball I popped up [in the seventh with two on]. I was happy with the swings but the results weren't there. There's no excuse right there not to drive in a run. I failed miserably right there and I was hoping I'd get another chance to do something to help us win."
He said he heard some of the stuff directed at him by the Boston crowd, but he didn't take the bait on how hurtful those things were.
"I heard some of it, but it wasn't that bad," Rodriguez said. "It wasn't any more than it usually is. It's always fun to come here."
Yeah. Must be a blast. Though a game-winning home run has to ease those bruised feelings.
On Friday night, fans seated along the third base side sported blond masks, symbolic of the woman he was photographed with Rodriguez's wife, Cynthia, was in Boston for part of the trip and the couple was seen holding hands Thursday. Of course, everyone assumed it was a photo opportunity, so A-Rod could show the world that he and his wife are doing just fine.
