Was it the no-batting-practice gimmick? The scrambled batting order? The late insertion of Tino Martinez into the lineup? Or was it simply time for an underachieving veteran lineup to finally do something to take the heat off its batting coach and manager?
Perhaps all of the above apply. Or none. For whatever reason, the dormant Yankees bats -- led by Alex Rodriguez, who hit two of the team's four homers to reach No. 400 for his career -- rumbled to life on Wednesday night in a 12-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park.
After losing 9 of 10 games and starting this 12-game trip 1-7, the Yankees resembled the team that had won 10 straight and 16 of 18 before this swoon made George Steinbrenner, their principal owner, restless.
The Yankees had not scored this many runs in a game since May 27. And the timing was fortunate, because the Yankees (29-30) begin a three-game series Friday with St. Louis, which has the best record in the National League.
Rodriguez, who had gone 11 games without driving in a run, went 4 for 4 with four runs batted in.
He hit a two-run homer in the first off Brewers starter Chris Capuano, and No. 400 came in the eighth with reliever Jorge De La Rosa pitching.
Rodriguez, who also had a run-scoring single, pumped his right fist as the second homer cleared the right-field wall to make him the first major leaguer to hit 400 homers before his 30th birthday.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but