The New York Yankees defeated the Detroit Tigers 7-2 Friday night in what ended up being a historic evening. The highlight of the night came from Alex Rodriguez who came up in the first inning and deposited the first pitch over the right field seats for career hit number 3,000.
Adam Warren (5-4, 3.62 ERA) of the Yankees pitched really well, holding a dangerous Tigers team to only two runs, zero after the second inning. Justin Verlander (0-1, 6.17 ERA), who will be mentioned in the next paragraph, pitched a below average game. This is only his second game of the season but he was on the wrong side of history tonight.
Verlander pitched worse with every passing inning as a result of just being tired and giving up a few add on runs later in the game. In this game the Yankees scored a run in every inning except the third, fourth and sixth. With the win, the Yankees are on a three-game winning streak while the Tigers have lost four of their last six.
This season the newest member of the 3,000 hit club Alex Rodriguez is tied with Brett Gardner for second on the team with a .277 batting average. Rodriguez is second on the team in home runs (13), third in RBIs (35), third in hits (61), and second in runs scored (38).
18,000 people have played baseball in the major league over the history of this sport, and as of today Alex Rodriguez is the 29th player to hit 3,000 hits. He joins former teammate and Yankees legend Derek Jeter and Wade Boggs as the only three players in baseball history to hit a homerun for their 3,000th hit. Alex Rodriguez’s 3,000th hit is only the second in history to be hit off of the Detroit Tigers, the other one being Eddie Collins.
For any Yankee fan, including yours truly, it would've seemed crazy to think A-Rod would be cheered after missing all of last season with the drug suspension. Rodriguez is on the comeback trail both on and off the field. He is trying to reconcile with the fans who love him, since he is playing well, but also his teammates and he is trying to play baseball again after not having played for an entire year.
A very fresh faced 18-year-old Alex Rodriguez beat out a ground ball to third at Fenway Park on July 9, 1994 for his first career hit. In 2001, Alex Rodriguez admitted to using “boli” aka steroids. On May 5, 2001 Rodriguez hit is 1,000th career hit as a member of the Texas Rangers, in Texas against the White Sox. On July 21, 2006 as member of the Yankees, Rodriguez hit his 450th homerun and 2,000th hit as a 30-year-old off of future Yankees teammate A.J. Burnett, who at that time was a member of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Rodriguez is probably being tested every day and it’s amazing that he has come up clean all year long and is having an incredible redemption story. A-Rod is straying away from saying anything stupid to the media this year and instead is worrying about his game and helping the Yankees win.
The fan that caught the ball tweeted yesterday that A-Rod, “deserves favors from no one, least of all a fan.” According to ESPN, Jason Zillo, the Yankees spokesman, said the fan, Zack Hample “wouldn’t engage at all” in negotiations. That's in terms of the Yankees trying to retrieve the ball for Rodriguez. After hitting number 3,000 Rodriguez was blowing kisses to his daughters who were sitting behind home plate.
The Yankees got on the board first with the previously mentioned Rodriguez home run off of Justin Verlander in the first inning. When A-Rod crossed home plate he was immediately greeted by Mark Teixeira and the rest of his Yankees teammates. In the very next inning Brian Holiday singled to center, which scored Victor Martinez and Yoenis Cespedes to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead. In the third inning Didi Gregorious tied it up for the Yankees at two with a solo shot. That would be the end of scoring until the fifth inning when Brett Gardner, in the words of John Sterling, “Gardy Went Yardy”, scoring Mason Williams and putting the Yankees in the lead for good. In the seventh inning Brett Gardner scored from first in an amazing show of speed.
After left-handed reliever Tom Gorzelanny replaced Verlander, Mark Texieria singled, scoring Chase Headley in the seventh inning. In the bottom of the eighth inning Brett Gardner singled to left, which plated home Chris Young to make it a 7-2 game. This game was a convincing win for the Yankees over a good Detroit team, but it will be remembered for being the game Alex Rodriguez joined one of the most exclusive clubs in baseball, the 3,000 hit club.
The Yankees and Tigers go back at it tomorrow night, with the Old Timer’s Day ceremonies preceding it. On top of that, Willie Randolph joins a growing club of Yankees with their numbers retired in an additional ceremony prior to the game. In the actual game Alfredo Simon who is 7-3 is going up against Nathan Eovaldi who is 5-2 this season.
