A-Rod comes through in clutch...again

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Yankees trailing 5-6, Alex Rodriguez stepped to the plate. Just one year ago, this would have spelled certain doom for New York.

But it isn't one year ago, although apparently the Indians thought it was. After a wild pitch from Joe Borowski moved the runners to second and third, leaving first base open, the Indians decided not to walk A-Rod. He made them pay on the very next pitch, smashing a three-run walk-off homer to dead center.

Rodriguez seems to be more relaxed this year, which helps explain his two walk-off home runs in just fourteen games. His first walk-off was a grand slam with two outs against the Orioles on April 7.

"It's just fun," he said. "It's going out and not trying to do too much, and help the team win."

It was Rodriguez's tenth homer of the season, putting him just four behind Albert Pujols' record of fourteen home runs in the month of April.

"It's what Alex is capable of," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "He's got such incredible ability and now he's letting it speak for itself."

Even Yankees captain Derek Jeter is impressed with A-Rod's hot start to the season.

"You enjoy it. You appreciate it. I can't relate to it," Jeter said. "You'll never see me do it. It's fun to watch. Like I said, it hasn't been done. No one's ever done it so everyone should enjoy it because I don't know if you'll see it happen again."

But the question remains: what happens if Rodriguez doesn't keep this pace up (he won't or else he would finish with 116 home runs and 301 RBIs) or strikes out to end a game? Will New York still love him or go back to booing the two-time MVP?