Despite dropping the series opener to the Dodgers on Friday night, there were some encouraging signs for the Yankees offense.
Josh Donaldson enjoyed himself a strong day at the plate in his return from the injured list, accounting for the majority of New York’s run production in the 8-4 loss.
New York Yankees vs Los Angeles Dodgers
“It felt nice, I felt like I had some pretty good quality AB’s today,” Donaldson said postgame. “But at the end of the day we lost the game, and that’s what’s most important.”
After LA jumped all over Luis Severino in the first, Donaldson crushed a Clayton Kershaw slider to deep left-center, getting the Yankees on the board in the top of the second.
Then in the ninth with the Yankees still trailing, the slugger cracked another homer, this one a two-run shot also to left-center. He finished the day 2-for-4 and drove in three of the four Yankee runs.
The 36-year-old and skipper Aaron Boone are hoping the strong start in his return to the lineup is a sign of things to come.
“The guy has been a wrecking machine his New York Yankees vs Los Angeles Dodgers whole life. I know it’s in there,” Boone said. “It was good to see him come out and get some results right out of the gate. Hopefully that can propel him a little bit.”
“Just going to put my best foot forward moving forward and continue to prepare and do whatever it takes to help the team win ballgames,” Donaldson added. “Today’s one day, gotta come out and do it again tomorrow.”
Mientkiewicz went as far as guaranteeing that Rodriguez will “die a lonely man” for sticking his nose up at friends.
READ: FORMER TEAMMATE DOUG MIENTKIEWICZ UNLOADS ON ALEX RODRIGUEZ: ‘HE’S GOING TO DIE A LONELY MAN’
Mientkiewicz spoke with former A.J. Pierzynski and Scott Braun on the “Foul Territory” podcast.
“I’ve always said this, he’s going to die a lonely man,” Mientkiewicz said. “This whole ‘father of the year’ stuff, God bless him with his daughters, because it’s got to come a long way. But it’s like, ‘You’re just trying to get into heaven now.’ I’m still friends with my high school team.
“We still text often, not as often as we should, but we still text, group thread, constantly badgering each other. He’s just distant from it. I don’t care how good or how great you become and how far your career goes, you never forget your high school dudes.”
Donaldson credited his fast start in his return to action to the work he’s been putting in during his rehab down in Triple-A.
“I feel like I had been having pretty good quality AB’s during my rehab. I had four games but I felt like I was putting together good at-bats down there,” he said. “I was able to get a couple of good pitches to hit today and made the most of them.”
Donaldson’s Yankee tenure has gotten off to a bit of a frustrating start. After struggling last year, he put together a strong showing in spring training, but landed on the IL just five games into the season.
“There’s always going to be people out there that have things to say, everyone has an opinion,” Rodriguez said, “but I certainly would never talk publicly negatively about any of my teammates, especially someone in high school.
A-Rod added, “I mean, look, we’re almost 50 now. This is supposed to be the good old days when we look back and we cringe about some of the weird things that we did and we’re proud of the relationships we built over the years. So you take that with a grain of salt and you wish everyone well and you move on.”
The ex-teammate didn’t let Rodriguez’s steroid use during his MLB career go without mention.
“It’s painful, ‘It’s like, wait a minute, do you (forget) you got suspended 200 games?’” Mientkiewicz added.
“It’s like, ‘Come on, man. Stop it. I get it.’ I played a power position and didn’t have any. Did it cross my mind? Of course. You thought about it. But I was like, ‘You know what, I want to be able to walk when I’m 50.”
Perhaps the success has gone to the head of the legendary Yankee-turned-commentator-turned-part-time-NBA-owner.
Or perhaps it’s sour grapes from Mientkiewicz. If Alex Rodriguez did something to Mientkiewicz, it must have been bad.
