The Daily Closer: A-Rod Thinks You May Have Underestimated Him At Some Point

Notes on a day in baseball:

• Do Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Shortstop. Alex Rodriguez is playing at a level only dogs can hear; his walk-off homer on Thursday (two outs in the ninth!) going for his 10th HR of the season (26 RBI), in 14 games. A-Rod is even hitting in the clutch, which must be making Red Sox fans wonder what would have happened if he had come to Boston — as many said he wanted to do — instead of New York three years ago. Well, not to rain on the Yankees or anything, but Herald columnist Gerry Callahan writes today that Rodriguez is as good as red. It's the Yankees-Red Sox, where we suppose anything goes. Rodriguez's three-run homer brought New York back from a four-run deficit in the ninth, giving the Yankees an 8-6 win over the Indians. Oh, and Sean Henn pitched one inning to get the win, following Chase Wright and Kei Igawa to become the third Yankees rookie in three games to get his first major league win. That hadn't happened since Norm Branch, Charlie Stanceu and Steve Peek did it from May 20-22, 1941, as if the Elias Sports Bureau had to tell you. The Yankees now go to Boston, where Callahan should collect some interesting quotes.

• Cora! Cora! Cora! Oh, by the way Callahan, Boston shortstop Alex Cora would like a word with you. Cora tripled home the go-ahead run in the ninth (Manny Ramirez hit a tying, two-run homer in the eighth in a 5-3 win over the Blue Jays.

• Meet Mr. Met. David Wright update: Hitting streak intact at 26 games. We love hitting streaks, especially ones which extend over two seasons so that people argue over wheter it counts. Mets 11, Marlins 3. Carlos Beltran 4-for-6 with a home run.

• Those Dodgers Will Sneak Up On You. Mark Hendrickson, filling in for Jason Schmidt (he's hurt already?), allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings as the Dodgers beat the Rockies 8-1.

• Cubtastic. Rich Hill. That's all you need to know. OK, Hill gave up four hits in eight scoreless innings, Michael Barrett and Aramis Ramirez had solo homers, and the Cubs beat the Braves 3-0.