Until Alex Rodriguez hits hits 600 home runs, we'll be baseballreference.com-ing his batter vs. pitcher history against his opposition for the night. Tonight? Jake Westbrook and the Cleveland Indians.
Career vs. the Indians: 29 home runs
Career at Progressive Field/Jacobs Field: 10
Vs. Jake Westbrook, Tonight's Starter: 9-24, 1 HR, 4 RBI's, 4 K's, 2 BB's. (In postseason play: 2-3)
Indians Bullpen
Vs. Aaron Laffey: 0-3, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 BB
Vs. Rafael Perez: 0-3, 2 K's. (In postseason play: 1-1, 1 HR, 1 RBI)
Vs. Chris Perez: 1-2, 1 HR, 4 RBI
Vs. Jensen Lewis: 0-2, 2 K's
Vs. Joe Smith: 0-2, 1 K
Vs. Hector Ambriz: 1-1, 1 RBI
Vs. Tony Sipp: 0-1
Has not faced Jeanmar Gomez, Jess Todd, Kerry Wood, or Frank Herrmann
Analysis: Against Westbrook, A-Rod has a pretty good history, hitting over .400 including postseason play, but not much in the way of home runs: one in 27 at-bats, about half as good as he normally performs, considering he's hit a homer every 14.44 at-bats in his career. He doesn't have much going for him against the Indians bullpen - a combined 3-15 with postseason play, but there's those two homers, both of which came in big situations: Rodriguez hit a solo shot off of Rafael Perez in the 2007 postseason, and earlier this year, knocked a grand slam against now-closer Chris Perez to give the Yankees a five-run lead in a close game. Looking at his history, A-Rod missed some pretty good chances against a sub-par Royals bullpen this weekend - he'll have to do it against opposition he's had a much tougher time against if he's to hit one in Cleveland.