Theodorakis/News
New York Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano ignites a two-out, seven-run rally in the seventh inning with a solo home run to right, ensuring Dustin Moseley (below) gets the win.
CLEVELAND - Welcome to Week 2 of the Chase for 600.
Alex Rodriguez's pursuit of history enters its second week after he failed to go deep in Thursday night's 11-4 win over the Indians. A-Rod went 1-for-4 with a walk, a sacrifice fly and three RBI, extending his quest for No. 600 to 30 at-bats over seven games.
"We've been playing good baseball and winning baseball," Rodriguez said of the past week, in which the Yankees have gone 5-2. "The thing to remember is that when I hit this, nothing is going to change. We're in the middle of a pennant race and we're just trying to play good baseball."
Since he hit his 599th homer on July 22, A-Rod is 9-for-30 (.300) with seven RBI, going 34 plate appearances without a long ball. That matches his fourth-longest power outage of the season.
Rodriguez, who has three grand slams this season, came to the plate with he bases loaded three times Thursday night. His three RBI came in those appearances.
"I guess we'll talk about it again tomorrow," Joe Girardi said. "We all hoped it would happen here. It didn't, so we move on to the next city."
The Yankees struggled to get the big hit through the first six innings against the Indians staff, which was forced to patch together seven innings of relief after starter Mitch Talbot left with nobody out in the third due to a mid-back strain.
But a seven-run seventh turned a one-run game into a laugher, sending the Yankees into their weekend series in Tampa Bay feeling good about themselves after taking three of four from the Tribe.
The outburst made a winner of Dustin Moseley, who made Girardi look smart for his decision to use the righthander instead of Sergio Mitre to fill in for Andy Pettitte. Moseley allowed four hits and walked two, striking out four in his first start since April 17, 2009, with the Angels.
Moseley needed 31 pitches to get through a rocky first, but he rebounded with three strong innings, throwing only 52 pitches over his next five frames.
"I'm excited; I think I can do this job," said Moseley, who will start again Tuesday against Toronto. "I can't fill Andy Pettitte's shoes, so I'm just going to try to do what I can do."
A-Rod led off the second with a walk, then came up again in the third with the bases loaded and the Yankees trailing, 1-0. He worked the count full before lacing a hard drive to center, but it settled into Trevor Crowe's glove for a sac fly, tying the game at 1.
The Yankees took their first lead in the sixth, as Derek Jeter singled in Brett Gardner from third to make it a 2-1 game.
A-Rod grounded out to shortstop for the second out in the seventh, but the Bombers exploded with a two-out rally, starting with Robinson Cano's homer, his 20th of the season.
The next seven Yankees reached base, four of them on walks, as the Bombers collected 12 bases on balls, a new team-high this season in a nine-inning game.
A-Rod came to bat for a second time in the inning, this time with the bases loaded, with most of the 34,455 in attendance hoping to witness history. He stroked a two-run single to center to cap the seven-run inning and give the Yankees a 9-1 lead, but it wasn't the hit the crowd was looking for.
"Today was a good day," said Rodriguez, whose 31 RBI in July are his highest monthly total since he drove in 34 in June of 2007. "Whether you hit a home run or whenever you hit one again, nothing is going to change. I'm not going anywhere."
The Yankees sent eight batters to the plate in the eighth, giving A-Rod one final chance to hit No. 600. He stepped to the plate with the bases loaded for the third time in the game, but Jess Todd struck him out swinging to end the frame, sending his quest for the milestone with him on the team's charter flight to Tampa.
"Overall, we're having fun," Rodriguez said. "We're playing good baseball. Today, we saw over 275 pitches (it was 233, actually), which was a great sign for us. Hopefully we can take that right into the weekend."
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