A-Rod pokes 'em home

UPDATE: A beautiful Derek Jeter-Robinson Cano double play. Jeter tosses, Cano sends it to first with the whip of his arm, not even turning his hips. YouTube it.

UPDATE: Johnny Damon sends one home with a well-placed single in the bottom of the fourth, putting New York up 6-2.

RUNNING UPDATE: Robinson Cano made up for an earlier whiff of a K with a two-run blast in the bottom of the fourth, putting the Yankees on top 5-2 at home against the Baltimore Orioles. His shot chased Orioles starting pitcher Rich Hill.

One inning before, Alex Rodriguez helped spike the image that he's bad in the clutch.

He sat at the plate in the bottom of the third, with the bases loaded and two outs, letting the Yankee crowd ring in his ears as he faced an 0-1 count.

Hapless Baltimore pitcher Hill (who, despite having a no-hitter through two, had allowed Derek Jeter to score off a walk and a couple sacrifice flies), tossed him a pumpkin, right down the middle.

A-Rod let it go by. But before the slugger could soak in much more hate from the legions of Yankees fans upset at him for letting such a beautiful pitch go by, he unleashed his picture-perfect swing. The result was a solid connection, a poke on a looping pitch that plopped over short and sent two New York runners home.

A-Rod's strong hitting this year with runners on base has balanced an attack that statistically has not been as strong as in other years for the three-time MVP. He's only hitting .250 with 19 home runs and 52 RBIs, which is well under par for him (and especially for an odd-numbered year, when he is usually blistering at the plate).

Despite a slow start due to his hip injury, however, A-Rod has given his team a winning record while he's healthy (thus dooming many theories about the effect of him as a teammate) and is still second on the team in long bombs with 19 and RBI (52).

Across the league, the Red Sox are already behind the Texas Rangers, 2-0.

Cross your fingers....

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