A-Rod's mother has to wait
Change of plans His mother was likely not amused when she got the news. And with good reason. Imagine preparing for your son's first regular-season games in your hometown only to learn at the last moment that he would not play until tomorrow.
Change of plans
His mother was likely not amused when she got the news.
And with good reason. Imagine preparing for your son's first regular-season games in your hometown only to learn at the last moment that he would not play until tomorrow.
What to do last night and today? Who to root for?
"Have to tell her to save the gas money," Alex Rodriguez said. The Yankees third baseman, who bought about 100 tickets for family and friends for the three-game set, did not start last night against the Marlins in Miami and will watch again today because of what the team called "fatigue."
Of course, explaining A-Rod's little 0-for-15 slump and .212 batting average is enough to exhaust anybody. Yankees manager Joe Girardi said A-Rod is just "run down" and could pinch-hit. At least A-Rod's mom can root for her hometown Marlins until tomorrow.
Rainy-day blues
In a game reminiscent of Game 5 of the 2008 World Series between the Phillies and Rays, the Red Sox and visiting Marlins played Thursday night's game in a rainy haze. A downpour abated just enough to get the game started, but the hard rain returned two batters into the sixth inning, and the game was halted with the Marlins ahead, 2-1.
Two hours, 26 minutes later, the game was called, and the Sox - who are fighting off the second-place Yankees, third-place Blue Jays, and fourth-place Rays - lost a game some of them complained never should have started.
"There was nothing we were told or saw on the [weather] radar that suggested that we were going to be playing in any type of good conditions," third baseman Mike Lowell complained to the Boston Globe.
The moral of the story: Score early and often if you're playing in a monsoon.
Noteworthy
The Tigers extended manager Jim Leyland's contract through the 2011 season. . . . Erik Bedard checked out fine in an MRI exam on his pitching shoulder, and the Mariners expect him back in the rotation in about two weeks. . . . Yankees centerfielder Brett Gardner was not in the starting lineup last night but said he was "feeling fine" after a collision with the Yankee Stadium wall Thursday night. . . . The Tigers recalled catcher Dusty Ryan from triple-A Toledo. . . . Roger Clemens said he may write a book to get out his side of the performance-enhancing drugs story in his nasty dispute with Brian McNamee, his former trainer.