The New York Yankees finally put an end to their bad luck last night, beating the Blue Jays 10-5, but Alex Rodriguez sparked controversy by apparently ‘distracting’ Toronto’s Howie Clark.
The Yankees had just a one run lead at the top of the ninth with two out, and Rodriguez hit a run scoring single to put them up 7-5.
But the third baseman’s sportsmanship came under scrutiny when he appeared to yell at Clark, seemingly distracting the outfielder on a Jorge Posada hit, the ball dropped and New York scored another single.
Rodriguez’s behavior infuriated the Blue Jays, and the umpires had to step in to prevent a fight from breaking out. Rodriguez claimed he shouted "Ha!" as he passed Clark, but Clark insisted he heard a call for the ball and as a result he left it for team mate John McDonald.
"Maybe I'm naive," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons told reporters. "But, to me, it's bush league. You always look at the Yankees and they do things right. That's not Yankee baseball."
Rodriguez said it was just a desperate attempt to help his team to victory. "We're desperate," he said, "we haven't won a game in a little bit now. We won the game."