Do his New York Yankees teammates have Alex Rodriguez's back? Thanks to Houston Astros pitcher Brett Oberholtzer, we know the answer is yes.
In Saturday's game -- a 9-6 Yankees win -- Oberholtzer got off to an awful start, giving up six runs in less than 1 1/3 innings, including two homers, one a grand slam by Brian McCann. In the second inning, after Obertholtzer served up the second homer, a shot by Chris Young, A-Rod was the next batter. Oberholtzer threw at Rodriguez, in the direction of his midsection.
Umpire Rob Drake immediately ejected Oberholtzer, who appeared only too glad to be leaving the game, heading right to the bench. But the Yankees dugout was ready to charge onto the field, led by pitcher CC Sabathia, who was held back by manager Joe Girardi.
"I think it's a kid getting frustrated," Girardi said. "I definitely think he threw at Alex. You don't want to see that. We've seen it before, and you just move on."
However, the fact that the Yankees were ready to defend Rodriguez may be a sign that, as far as his teammates are concerned, they are willing to leave past A-Rod controversies in the past. As Mark Townsend writes at Big League Stew:
"If there were any remaining doubts about how A-Rod's teammates feel about him, this should squash them. He's simply one of the boys again."
For his part, Oberholtzer denied throwing at Rodriguez.
"I was missing my spots bad all night," Oberholtzer said. "In the previous three starts, I had success going in and, unfortunately, I missed my spots pretty bad."
And here's who didn't have Oberholtzer's back: the Astros. After the game, he was demoted to Triple-A.
"We don't operate that way; we won't operate that way," Houston manager A.J. Hinch said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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