A-Rod's 20th Lifts Yanks Past Red Sox

Jun 04, 02:10 AM

Current Headlines: BOSTON _ As the ninth inning was set to begin, Johnny Damon had a feeling that Sunday night's game would come down to Alex Rodriguez.

Even though A-Rod was slated to hit third in the inning against Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon, Damon had a message for his teammate.

"I told him, `We need you right here,' " Damon said. "We knew the rain was coming, we knew Papelbon was in there, and I told him we needed him."

Rodriguez, who was the No. 1 target of the Fenway faithful over the past three days, delivered, crushing a two-out, two-strike, opposite-field home run off Papelbon to lift the Yankees to a 6-5 victory over the Red Sox.

"He sure came through," Damon said. "It was amazing."

The victory gave the Yankees (24-30) their second series win over the rival Red Sox in the past 10 days, moving them within 12 { games of Boston in the American League East. The Bombers remained seven out in the wild card race.

"This is very important," Joe Torre said. "It doesn't make a huge dent in the lead that the Red Sox have, but I think it did a great deal for our confidence."

A-Rod's timely delivery capped a difficult week for the third baseman, who dealt with the off-the-field saga of his personal life in addition to scrutiny over what was perceived as a dirty play in Toronto.

And that was before he even got to Boston, where the fans gave him the business all weekend, starting with the slew of "blond woman" masks in the crowd on Friday night.

"It's got to take some of the sting out of it," Torre said of A-Rod's home run. "When you're dealing with a personal situation, it's more than just a game. He's had to try to put it off to the side and play the game, and that's not easy to do."

Mariano Rivera closed it out in the ninth against the heart of Boston's lineup, earning his fifth save of the season, his second in three opportunities against the Red Sox. Rivera and three other relievers combined to throw 42/3 scoreless innings in the victory.

As significant as the win was, the Yankees will be holding their breath that Andy Pettitte's back spasms are not serious. Pettitte exited in the fifth inning, having first felt something in his back in the third.

Pettitte allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings, coughing up a four-run lead in the fifth before being taken out with his back problem.

"He gave us what he could give us at the time," Torre said. "I keep my fingers crossed that he'll be all right."

The Bombers head to Chicago to open a four-game series with the White Sox tonight, looking to finish off their 10-game road trip on a high note. They are 3-3 through the first six games, having dropped two of three in Toronto before taking two of three in Boston.

"This is nice, a big win at their ballpark," Pettitte said. "We need to go on now and have a good series in Chicago. If we don't play well there, this is for nil, really."

With the Sox leading 5-4 in the eighth, Robinson Cano drilled an RBI triple to center off Hideki Okahima, tying the game. The Yankees, who had failed to get a runner home from third base with one out in the seventh, had another chance in the eighth with Cano on third and no outs, but Okajima retired three straight hitters, the tie game eventually moving to the ninth.

"I've got to get the job done there," said Rodriguez, who had popped up with one out and Damon on third base in the seventh. "It's not acceptable; that run needs to come in. I knew I would get another shot the way the lineup rolled around."

That opportunity came in the ninth, after Papelbon had set down Derek Jeter and Bobby Abreu with ease. Papelbon got ahead of A-Rod with two quick strikes, but Rodriguez belted the closer's 0-2 fastball into the Red Sox bullpen to put the Yankees ahead.

"You're battling for your life at that point," Rodriguez said. "You're trying to stay in the at-bat and try to hit the ball hard somewhere. The last thing on my mind at that point is hitting a home run."

Rivera needed 11 pitches to retire David Ortiz to open the bottom half getting him to fly out to right field on a hard-hit ball. Rivera then struck out Manny Ramirez for the second out, but the closer hit Kevin Youkilis, putting the tying run on base. Rivera struck out Mike Lowell to end the game.

"It's important to be in these type of games and be able to come back, especially on the road," Rodriguez said. "We haven't been doing a lot of that this year. To do it in an environment like this is big. Now we have to back that up."

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