Boston manager Terry Francona was thinking about going out to talk to reliever Hideki Okajima in the ninth inning before Alex Rodriguez’s at-bat.
Rodriguez had already homered twice to join Mike Schmidt as the fastest to reach a dozen in baseball history.
Masai Takahashi, a member of the training staff who serves as translator, started writing out some things to say before Francona realized it was pointless.
“Masai was writing out ‘This guy’s a really good hitter,”’ Francona said with a laugh. “I think he knows that. The best thing we could do was stay out of the way.”
Okajima got Rodriguez to line out to second base and then struck out Kevin Thompson to preserve the Red Sox’s 7-6 win Friday night over the New York Yankees.
Rodriguez, who has hit safely in all 15 games this year and homered in four straight, also leads the majors with 30 RBIs and 65 total bases.
“You run out of words and superlatives of what he’s into right now,” New York manager Joe Torre said.
In other AL games Friday, it was: Cleveland 4, Tampa Bay 3; Baltimore 5, Toronto 4; Chicago 5, Detroit 4; Oakland 16, Texas 4; Kansas City 11, Minnesota 7; and Los Angeles 8, Seattle 4.
Coco Crisp tied the game with a two-run triple and then scored the winning run on Alex Cora’s blooper during a five-run eighth inning.
Crisp was already in the highlights after toppling into the Boston bullpen in pursuit of Rodriguez’s second homer of the game, a three-run shot in the fifth that gave the Yankees a 5-2 lead.
Mariano Rivera (1-2) allowed two runs on three hits, striking out one in two-thirds of an inning.
The Yankees closer hadn’t pitched since Marco Scutaro hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning against him for Oakland on Sunday.
“I’m always going to be shocked, only because of what he is and his track record,” Torre said. “It hurts. We had good momentum going and it looked like we were beating a good pitcher tonight.”
J.D. Drew had three hits for Boston, which trailed 5-2 before David Ortiz led off the eighth with a double and Manny Ramirez walked. Drew moved the runners up, then Mike Lowell singled to make it 6-3 and bring in Rivera.
Jason Varitek, who hit a two-run homer in the fourth, singled to make it 6-4, then Crisp tripled down the right-field line to tie it. With the infield in, Cora fisted a blooper over Derek Jeter’s head to the back of the infield dirt, driving in the go-ahead run.
Indians 4, Devil Rays 3
Travis Hafner hit a two-run homer and drove in the go-ahead run on a ninth-inning single to lead visiting Cleveland.
Andy Marte doubled and Grady Sizemore walked to open the ninth off Juan Salas (0-1). Al Reyes replaced Salas and struck out David Dellucci before Hafner singled to center. Hafner went 3-for-3 with two walks. He has 11 hits in his last 15 at-bats.
Roberto Hernandez (1-1) threw a perfect eighth. Joe Borowski pitched the ninth for his sixth save.
Orioles 5, Blue Jays 4
Nick Markakis singled in the winning run in the ninth inning to cap host Baltimore’s rally against Toronto.
The Orioles trailed 4-2 in the eighth but came back against Toronto’s beleaguered bullpen, which is without injured closer B.J. Ryan. Corey Patterson led off the ninth with a single off Victor Zambrano (0-1). After a sacrifice bunt by Paul Bako, Brian Roberts was intentionally walked.
Melvin Mora then drew a walk to load the bases for Markakis, who grounded a single to right-center against the drawn-up infield.
Chris Ray (2-1) got the win despite allowing two hits in the ninth.
White Sox 5, Tigers 4
Darin Erstad’s tiebreaking single in the seventh inning lifted Chicago at Detroit.
Juan Uribe and Tadahito Iguchi homered for the White Sox and helped Nick Masset (1-0) earn his first major league victory.
David Aardsma, Matt Thornton, and Mike MacDougal combined to retire six in a row in the seventh and eighth innings, and Bobby Jenks pitched the ninth for his fifth save. He gave up a double to Placido Polanco with two outs, who advanced to third on a wild pitch. Jenks struck out Gary Sheffield to end the game.
Jason Grilli (0-1) took the loss.
Athletics 16, Rangers 4
Rookie Travis Buck hit his first career homer and drove in a career-high five runs to help visiting Oakland stretch its winning streak to four games.
Buck added a three-run double, and Bobby Crosby doubled in two more during an eight-run second inning, when the A’s chased Rangers starter Brandon McCarthy (1-3) after he gave up four runs.
Oakland starter Joe Blanton (2-0) allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings.
Royals 11, Twins 7
Mark Grudzielanek’s home run keyed a five-run fifth inning and carried host Kansas City to a come-from-behind victory over Minnesota.
Mike Sweeney and Reggie Sanders also homered for Kansas City, which entered the night with the worst record in the majors at 4-11.
Odalis Perez (1-2) went five innings for his first win, giving up four runs and seven hits, with a walk and two strikeouts. David Riske pitched two innings for his second save.
Sidney Ponson (1-2) took the loss.
Angels 8, Mariners 4
Virginia Tech alumnus Joe Saunders (2-0) wore a Hokies cap while scattering seven hits during six scoreless innings in host Los Angeles’ victory.
Vladimir Guerrero, back after missing two games with a bruised right wrist, hit a solo homer and went 3-for-5 to help the Angels end a six-game losing streak and hand Seattle its fourth straight loss.
Drafted by the Angels, Saunders said he did not know any of those killed in the shooting. He received permission from commissioner Bud Selig to wear the Virginia Tech cap during the game.
Miguel Batista (1-2) took the loss.
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