Baseball-Rodriguez grand slam lifts Yankees past Twins

Aug 18 (The Sports Xchange) - Alex Rodriguez broke out of a prolonged slump in the bottom of the seventh inning to hit a grand slam home run off rookie J.R. Graham to lead the New York Yankees to an 8-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday. "That certainly felt great," Rodriguez said. "A home run feels great, a grand slam feels pretty awesome." It was Rodriguez's 25th career grand slam though more importantly for the Yankees, it was his second hit in his last 28 at-bats. "Huge hit, absolutely huge," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "It's a big reason why we won." Rodriguez's home run also gave him 25 for the season and earned a curtain call from fans at Yankee Stadium after they had been trailling 4-1. Rodriguez's home run meant the Yankees won for the fifth time in six games after briefly falling out of first place in the American League East division. "He got a good pitch to hit," New York left-hander CC Sabathia said after allowing four runs and five hits in 6-2/3 innings. "He's got the most grand slams in baseball history. It's fun to watch." Rodriguez's hit was one of 11 by the Yankees, who added three runs in the eighth on a two-run double by third baseman Chase Headley and an RBI single by center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury. (Compiled by Greg Stutchbury)