Bottom of order comes through for AL

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Posted: Monday July 13, 1998 06:06 PM

Seeing double: The Rodriguez duo combined to go 5-for-7 with three runs and two RBIs. Ivan Rodriguez (right) also stole a base (AP)

DENVER (CNN/SI) - Alex Rodriguez, with 27 homers, batted sixth. Ivan Rodriguez, maybe the best all-around catcher in baseball, was seventh. And future Hall of Famer Cal Ripken hit eighth.

Not exactly the sort of bottom of the lineup a pitcher wants to face in Coors Field.

All three were pivotal in the American League' 13-8 victory in the All-Star Game at the Colorado Rockies' homer-friendly ballpark.

"These kinds of games are just enjoyable," said Alex Rodriguez, who hit the first homer in what many expected to be a long-ball fest but didn't turn out that way.

"There are a lot of hits and many contributors. I hope to have a few more homers in the All-Star game before I'm done."

And with 86 homers over the last 2 1/2 years, he probably will.

Ivan Rodriguez, meanwhile, went 3-for-4 hitting in the seventh spot in the AL order.

"It's just a great hitter's park," he said.

Then there was Ripken, baseball's iron man who received one of the loudest and longest ovations during pregame introductions. While Baltimore Orioles teammate Robert Alomar garnered MVP honors, it was Ripken who drove in the AL's first two runs with a double off the top of the right field wall that just missed being a home run.

"I expected the ball to curve away. I thought it might be foul. Maybe it's the light air here in Colorado," Ripken said. "The ball kind of stayed straight."

Ripken set a record by starting his 15th straight All-Star Game. That's hardly surprising for a man who's played in 2,566 consecutive games.

So Cal, how about taking a day off? He entered the All-Star Game with less than impressive numbers -- a .258 average with seven homers and 36 RBIS.

"You can overanalyze and overevaluate the streak any way you want," Ripken said. "Fans, anybody can do that.

"The basic thing is it's a very simple approach. I'd rather have people talk about your performance than the streak. Taking a day off is not going to help your performance. Usually the streak talk comes up when I'm not quite hitting like I normally do. That's where I am right now. It's a manageable thing."

The National League took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third.

In the fourth, Alex Rodriguez singled to right to open the inning. Ivan Rodriguez then singled to center.

Ripken, one of the leading vote-getters in the fan balloting, but the only starter with an average under .300, then doubled.

"I'd have felt better if I'd had better numbers coming in," Ripken said. "But I got a hit and it felt good because it got us back in the game."

The Rodriguezes and Ripken finished a combined 6-for-11 with four runs scored and four RBIs in the highest-scoring All-Star Game ever.

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