In their heads

No one has ever said Alex Rodriguez isn't talented, that he isn't a great batter, that he isn't MVP-caliber talent.

But he has been accused of being an underachiever, a choke, a less-than-real Yankee.

That's why it was only fitting when A-Rod's fifth-inning home run to bury the Angels in a 5-0 hole also capped an incredible seven games of baseball, putting him in good company with a Yankee great.

Rodriguez's two-run shot made tonight's game the eighth game in a row (seven this postseason) with an RBI, a figure that ties Lou Gehrig for first place in playoff history.

Angel Stadium went silent after A-Rod's latest bomb, as this year's postseason leader for the Yankees led his pinstriped fellows into familiar territory: getting inside the Angels' heads.

The game started innocently enough, with Derek Jeter slapping an opposite-field single in the gap. But Jeter got caught off the bag trying to steal, and the Yankees looked ready to repeat their gaffe-filled ways from earlier in the series (which, until yesterday's extra-innings Angels win, had yet to result in a New York loss).

But tonight's game turned out to be more like the New England Patriots' victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. After opening up with some terrible play (Yankees: the Jeter mishap, Swisher getting called out for not tagging up soon enough; Patriots: stalling in the red zone, missing a field goal), both teams went off and blew away their opponents. The Patriots won 59-0 behind six touchdowns from Tom Brady. The Yankees stacked it on until the night ended with a 10-1 score.

If there's a trademark to this Angels-Yankees series, it's that even when the Yankees hand it to the Angels, the Angels can't seem to take it, and then the Yankees decimate them. In the first two games, it was late-inning heroics. The Angels shed their demons in the 11th inning of last night's win only to invite them back today, letting the Yankees into their heads despite serious mental lapses by the Bombers (see Jeter, Derek; Swisher, Nick; and Posada, Jorge, which led to Cano, Robinson).

(Side note: There were some terrible calls by the umps this game, but at least they didn't affect the outcome.)

With the Angels not taking advantage of the Yankees' ineptness, they had no chance of stemming the tide that was the unstopable A-Rod and CC Sabathia.

Before A-Rod's big homer, the Yankees had scratched together three runs, but there was no astounding hitting. The real hero of the game so far had been Sabathia, who was being the ultimate team player as he pitched on three day's rest and kept his pitch count low to be able to stay in the game. In one inning, he had about a third of the number of pitches the Angels' starter, Scott Kazmir, had totaled, and the big horse lasted eight innings overall and was able to strike out five while allowing just five hits (the one run coming from a homer).

At this point, people start saying that the Yankees are winning because all their players get paid so much, but getting paid a lot is nothing until you produce. Ask A-Rod.

From 2004-2007, he had four home runs and nine RBI. This year alone, he has five home runs and 11 RBI. (And this is the first season his regular-season numbers weren't as hot...do you hear anyone whining about that?) Plus, there's those terrible numbers he's had in years past with runners in scoring position.

Sabathia has followed suit, minus the years of frustration A-Rod had. He may not always pitch pretty, but eight innings means valuable rest for the bullpen and no need for a run-around in trying to find a fourth man to pitch.

Once Sabathia started dominating the Angels bats, and Rodriguez began to light things up again, the rest of the Yankees followed. Johnny Damon bolstered his case to stay with the Yankees for another season with a two-run blast that put the game away. Melky Cabrera slapped in a couple runs in the ninth inning, after A-Rod teased Bobby's Abreu arm by tagging up on a flyout then scoring on the errant throw. (Want to know why New York didn't keep Abreu? Yeah, look at that arm. Swisher may strike out and look silly most days, but he can throw a ball.)

It was a definitive win by the Yankees, the ultimate yes-we-did victory that will give this team enough momentum to hopefully end the series Thursday or else close it out in front of a raucous New York City crowd.

Sabathia's win was his third of the postseason, which leads all playoff pitchers, and his ERA is now 1.19 after allowing just one run today.

Rodriguez and Cabrera both went 3-for-4, although Rodriguez's two RBI were bested by Cabrera's four. Jeter had two hits, Damon's home run was worth two RBI, and Cano added the final RBI for the Yankees, which got a hit from each member of the lineup sans Hideki Matsui (0-for-5) and Swisher (0-for-2).

Rodriguez and Posada (!!!) both had stolen bases.

Angel Stadium hosts Thursday's matchup, set for 7:57 p.m.

A.J. Burnett is expected to start for the Yankees, and John Lackey wil try to take the Yanks after losing Game 1.

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