A-Rod absent from Yankees' 8-homer party By JAY COHEN, AP Sports Writer

A-Rod absent from Yankees' 8-homer party By JAY COHEN, AP Sports Writer
Tue Jul 31, 11:49 PM ET



NEW YORK - Everybody but A-Rod. On the night the New York Yankees tied a franchise record by hitting eight home runs in a 16-3 rout of the Chicago White Sox, Alex Rodriguez had none. While A-Rod stayed stuck at 499 homers, he watched his teammates connect all game long.

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After completing his 0-for-5 performance, he flipped his bat into the stands behind the dugout — giving a boy one memorable souvenir. Each time he batted, flashes popped throughout Yankee Stadium.

"They took pictures of the wrong guy tonight," he said.

Sure did.

"I'm sure if you polled everybody in baseball who didn't see the game and saw eight home runs being hit, they would have guessed that Alex hit two or three of them," Yankees manager Joe Torre said.

A-Rod is hitless in 17 at-bats since he connected against Kansas City last Wednesday. His teammates, however, had no problems going deep.

Hideki Matsui homered twice, and Damon, Jorge Posada, Bobby Abreu, Melky Cabrera, Robinson Cano and Shelley Duncan hit one apiece to back Mike Mussina (6-7). New York pulled within three games of Cleveland, the AL wild-card leader — the closest Yankees have been to playoff territory since after games of April 25.

"I wish one was his," Johnny Damon said of A-Rod, who leads the major leagues with 35 homers. "He swung the bat well tonight. Unfortunately, he didn't have anything to show for it."

When the Yankees hit eight homers in a doubleheader opener at the Philadelphia Athletics on June 28, 1939, Joe DiMaggio and Babe Dahlgren hit two each, and Bill Dickey, George Selkirk, Joe Gordon and Tommy Henrich also went deep.

"That's pretty incredible," Torre said.

It was a potential night of milestones in the major leagues, with Barry Bonds trying to tie Hank Aaron's career record of 755, and Mets pitcher Tom Glavine falling short in his quest for his 300th win.

A-Rod was greeted with wild cheers before each at-bat. He came closest to becoming the 22nd player to reach 500 homers when he sent Jermaine Dye crashing into the wall in right in the fourth. Dye held on and Rodriguez made his way to the Yankees dugout.

He was taken out after seven innings and will go for 500 homers again Wednesday night against John Danks and the White Sox.

"They got history, just not the one they were here to see," White Sox slugger Paul Konerko said. "It was impressive to watch."

Abreu hit a three-run drive and Matsui connected in the first against Jose Contreras (5-14), who has lost his last seven starts and nine of his last 10. Abreu's ninth of the year reached the second row of the upper deck in right.

Matsui also connected in the sixth, giving him 13 homers in July and 21 this season.

"I was quite surprised," Matsui said of the Yankees' eight homers. "I've never really experienced anything like this."

Cano and Cabrera joined the power surge in the third, Posada went deep in the fourth and Damon connected in the seventh before Duncan's drive.

Mussina (6-7) was the beneficiary of the support, winning his second straight start. He gave up three runs and six hits in six innings. Contreras allowed seven runs and eight hits in 2 2-3 innings against his former team, his shortest outing since he lasted just one against Cleveland on April 2.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was ejected by plate umpire Phil Cuzzi in the first inning. Cuzzi also tossed Konerko from the game in the sixth.

"Since 1985, I've never seen any umpire disrespect players and managers the way this guy does," Guillen said.

Juan Uribe hit a three-run homer in the second inning for Chicago but New York scored five runs in the third to chase Contreras from the game, and maybe from the rotation.

"We'll see in the next couple of days where we go from here," Guillen said. "We've given him a lot of opportunities, a lot of chances."

New York also acquired another bat before the deadline for trades without waivers, getting Wilson Betemit from the Los Angeles Dodgers for reliever Scott Proctor. Chicago also made a deal, sending outfielder-infielder Rob Mackowiak to San Diego for minor league pitcher Jon Link.

Notes:@ OF Darin Erstad (sprained left ankle) was activated from the 15-day disabled list and took Mackowiak's roster spot. ... New York will activate another reliever on Wednesday. Jeff Karstens and Edwar Ramirez are among the candidates. Hard-throwing prospect Joba Chamberlain is not in the mix but could be promoted soon. ... Yankees RHP Phil Hughes will be activated in time to start Saturday's game against the Kansas City Royals. ... Contreras entered with a 2.50 ERA in five career starts against New York.