No Dice For Alex Rodriguez Yet Again On Thursday, Stays Stuck At 599 Home Runs

A familiar story on Thursday - the Yankees beat up on their opponent by a score of 11-4, and Alex Rodriguez failed to hit a home run. It was a happy occasion for the Yankees as they once again maintained their two-game lead on the Rays in the East, but as far as A-Rod is concerned, the pressure's just mounting. His game:

-walk

-sacrifice fly

-fly out

-groundout

-strikeout

Those two fly balls had some distance to them, but alas, history was not meant to be made. Said Alex after the game:

Fans came to see A-Rod anyway, buzzing in anticipation each time he came up, cheering loudly every time he failed. He went 3 for 17 in the series that drew 112,060, including Thursday’s crowd of 34,455 that was the Indians’ largest since opening day. They jammed a walkway past the left-field wall in hopes of catching the milestone shot.

“I didn’t notice them until somebody told me so I took a peek and was shocked,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t hit many that way. They should have gone somewhere else.”

He'll give it yet another go this weekend in a series against the second-place Rays. Friday night's starter opposing the Yankees is 24 year old righty Wade Davis, a Rays prospect with a decent fastball and three other pitches. Davis is talented and has the bulk of his struggles against left-handed hitters, but he's a hittable adversary, so the door's wide open for A-Rod to do this tomorrow and get the whole thing out of the way. Alternatively, the Yankees are right back home next Monday, so, who knows.