Embattled New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez earned a walk to first base during his first at-bat Sunday night when Boston Red Sox pitcher Ryan Dempster nailed him with a pitch. Rodriguez responded later in the game with a solo homerun, sparking the Yankees to a 9-6 comeback win, ESPN reports.
Rodriguez made his first at-bat in the second inning to a chorus of jeers from the Fenway crowd. Dempster's first fastball nearly struck Rodriguez in the legs, and the next two pitches were inside. Dempster's fourth pitch struck Rodriguez in his left elbow.
The hit sent Rodriguez to first base, some players from each team's dugout onto the field and an angry Yankees manager Joe Girardi storming over to the home-plate umpire, who issued warnings to both teams.
Girardi exchanged heated words with the umpire, wildly flailing his arms before getting ejected for what looked like a left hook gesture at the umpire. Order was restored and the game went on. In the sixth inning, Rodriguez nailed a homerun and helped the Yankees to the eventual win, 9-6.
"Whether you like me or hate, that was wrong," Rodriguez said after the game, via ESPN. "That was unprofessional and silly. It was kind of a silly way to get someone hurt on your team as well."
Dempster said after the game he wasn't trying to hit Rodriguez, who continues to play while appealing his 211-game suspension for allegedly using performance-enhancing drugs.
Girardi didn't buy Dempster's excuse and thought the pitcher should have been ejected after the fourth attempt to hit Rodriguez succeeded.
"You can't start throwing at people," Girardi said, according to ESPN. "Lives - people have had concussions. Lives are changed by getting hit by pitches. Whether I agree with everything that's going on, you do not throw at people and you don't take the law into your own hands. You don't do that. We're going to skip the judicial system? It's 'My Cousin Vinny.'
"... You'd have to be really unaware or not paying attention to not know that he threw at him on purpose."
The Yankees didn't retaliate, but Rodriguez did get the last word - video shows the slugger swearing as he took his lap around the bases after hitting his homer. He finished the night with three hits.
