A-Rod's three homers a hit with fans

Slugger earns TYIB Award for top single-game performance

By Mark Feinsand / MLB.com

NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez's 2005 season had many highlights, all of which combined to earn him the American League's Most Valuable Player Award.

But it was A-Rod's incredible night on April 26 that earned him MLB.com's This Year in Baseball Award for the top single-game performance.

Rodriguez drilled three home runs -- all against AL Cy Young winner Bartolo Colon -- and drove in 10 runs to lead the Yankees to a 12-4 victory over the Angels at Yankee Stadium.

"It was pretty incredible," said manager Joe Torre. "Your mouth has to drop open when you see something like that. That was certainly worth the price of admission."

Rodriguez went 4-for-5 on the night, producing the third three-homer performance of his career. His 10 RBIs were the second-most in Yankees history; Hall of Famer Tony Lazzeri set the American League record with an 11-RBI day in 1936.

Rodriguez received a whopping 42.1 percent of the votes cast, easily beating out St. Louis' Chris Carpenter, who earned 14.1 percent for his one-hitter against the Blue Jays on June 14. Cincinnati's Ryan Freel finished third with 8.5 percent for stealing five bases in a game on July 27.

More than 3.3 million votes were cast for the 2005 This Year in Baseball Awards, up from 800,000 in 2004.

A-Rod opened his big night with a three-run shot against Colon in the first, then added a two-run homer in the third.

When Rodriguez came up with the bases loaded in the fourth, everyone in the stadium was on the edge of their seats -- including Rodriguez's own teammates -- to see if he could hit another ball out of the yard.

Rodriguez didn't disappoint, demolishing a 3-2 pitch from Colon off the front of the "black" section in dead center field. It was Rodriguez's 11th career grand slam, giving the Yankees a 10-2 lead.

"If I would have thought grand slam for one minute, it probably wouldn't have happened. My goal was to hit the ball hard up the middle," A-Rod said. "It was a fun matchup. Bases loaded, the fans were going crazy. When that ball went over the center-field fence, it felt pretty cool."

The crowd of 36,328 rose to its feet, giving Rodriguez his second standing ovation of the night. Two innings later, A-Rod added an RBI single to bring his game total to 10.

"It's magical," A-Rod said of his night. "After I got that last base hit up the middle, I felt like I was on top of a cloud. You don't want that moment to end. It was a night that I'll never forget."

Rodriguez is one of three Yankees players to win a This Year in Baseball Award, as Mariano Rivera won Closer of the Year honors and Robinson Cano won for being the top rookie.

MLB.com started the This Year in Baseball Awards back in 2002 to give fans the opportunity to express their opinions on the top players, managers and moments from each season.

The voting for this year's awards began on Oct. 31 and concluded Dec. 9 at midnight ET, and were announced live on MLB.com at 1 p.m. ET on Thursday. Awards are presented to winners during pregame, on-field ceremonies early the following season.

Mark Feinsand is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.