Rodriguez Flies Out To End Game, Yankees Lose To Marlins 2-1
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MIAMI (AP) — Alex Rodriguez pinch-hit and flied out to end the game in his homecoming Monday night, and the Miami Marlins beat the New York Yankees 2-1.
Rodriguez drew a big ovation when he batted for Stephen Drew with a runner at first, but he lofted a fly to right field and remained five hits shy of 3,000. Rodriguez was back in his hometown but didn't start because there was no DH for the interleague game.
Tom Koehler pitched seven innings for Miami and was helped by acrobatic defense. Derek Dietrich, recalled from the minors last week, hit his first home run of the season in the seventh to put Miami ahead against Masahiro Tanaka.
The crowd of 33,961 — Miami's largest since opening day — included a busload of Rodriguez's family and friends, as he described it. Fans seemed evenly divided in their support of the Marlins and the Yankees, making their first visit to Miami since 2009.
Mark Teixeira hit his 18th homer for the Yankees in the second inning. That was the only run allowed by Koehler (5-4), who limited the AL East leaders to three hits thanks to his teammates.
Shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria made two leaping catches of line drives to rob Chase Headley of hits, and second baseman Dee Gordon also made two nifty plays.
Tanaka (4-2) allowed nine hits and two runs in seven innings.
The Marlins' Ichiro Suzuki had two hits against former teammate Tanaka in an all-Japanese matchup. The game was televised in Japan.
Miami's Carter Capps struck out the side in the eighth and topped out at 100 mph. A.J. Ramos pitched around a leadoff walk in the ninth for his ninth save in 12 chances, completing the three-hitter.
Giancarlo Stanton, who leads the majors in homers and RBIs, went 1 for 3. Stanton, who suffered a season-ending beaning last September, was hit in the lower back by Jose Ramirez in the eighth inning but stayed in the game.
Dietrich homered on a 2-0 pitch to start the seventh. He also doubled in the second for his first hit of the season, and scored on Hechavarria's single.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Yankees: RHP Ivan Nova will make at least one more rehabilitation start in the minors before rejoining the rotation, manager Joe Girardi said. Nova is recovering from Tommy John surgery in April 2014. "We just think it's better that we know he's ready to go and ready to handle the rigors of starting every fifth day," Girardi said. ... OF Carlos Beltran was held out of the starting lineup because of a sore hamstring. He pinch-hit in the eighth and struck out.
Marlins: 3B Martin Prado sat out with a sore right shoulder, and a stint on the disabled list hasn't been ruled out.
UP NEXT
Yankees RHP Nathan Eovaldi (5-1, 4.13) and Marlins RHP David Phelps (3-3, 4.11) swapped teams as part of a five-player trade in December, and they're scheduled to start against each other Tuesday.
"It would work out that way," Phelps said.
Eovaldi went 6-14 at Marlins Park with Miami.
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