BOSTON – Alex Rodriguez compared it to the “freeze out” a basketball player receives before shooting free throws in the game’s final moments.
In this case the timeout lasted 2 hours, 11 minutes, plenty of time for Rodriguez to consider and reconsider the at-bat he would get against Jonathan Papelbon when the rain stopped at Fenway Park.
When the tarp finally was removed for good in the eighth inning, Rodriguez whiffed on three pitches, leaving the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the Yankees’ 4-3 loss to the Red Sox yesterday.
“It’s definitely not an excuse, [Papelbon] got the best of me tonight, but it’s definitely not fun sitting around for two hours,” Rodriguez said.
To stay loose, Rodriguez said he joked with his teammates, using the “freeze out” analogy. Otherwise, there wasn’t much to keep him occupied.
“Eat some doughnuts, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, not much,” Rodriguez said.
If there was some mystery to consider it was whether Papelbon would return following the extended delay. Rodriguez said he saw Mike Timlin warming up at one point, but was hardly shocked when Papelbon resurfaced. The right-hander had just entered the game when the downpour began.
After play resumed, Rodriguez fell behind 0-2 in the count and then swung and missed at a pitch that was high and off the plate. But Rodriguez thought the pitch was close enough.
“I think it was a better pitch probably than he wanted to give me,” Rodriguez said. “It was pretty close to being a strike, the last one. I thought it was a pretty good pitch to hit.”
Asked how Papelbon rates among closers, Rodriguez said “right up there at the top.”
Rodriguez can only wonder what might have been without the rain delay.
“Papelbon is tough enough without a two-hour delay,” Rodriguez said. “You know what you’re going to get. He gave me his pitches and got the best of me tonight.”