Rodriguez Gets His Hat Trick in Texas

ARLINGTON, Texas —  Alex Rodriguez wasn’t thinking about being in last place or the possibility of another strike. He just kept hitting the ball hard.

Rodriguez hit three home runs, becoming the sixth player with five consecutive 40-homer seasons, as the Texas Rangers defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 9-5, on Saturday night.

“When you have nights like tonight, you don’t really think much about the past or the future,” Rodriguez said.

“I was pretty much possessed by the moment and it was a great feeling. Hopefully, I can prolong it as much as I can.”

Rodriguez hit a two-run homer in the first inning, his 40th of the season. He added Nos. 41 and 42 with solo shots leading off the third and seventh innings.

Before striking out to lead off the fifth, Rodriguez had reached base in eight consecutive plate appearances--including three homers in a row.

His solo homer in the ninth inning Friday night gave the Rangers a 6-5 victory and ended a four-for-four night in which he also had a walk.

He singled in his final at-bat Wednesday in an 11-6 victory against the Chicago White Sox.

“When I feel the way I do, I don’t do a lot of preparing,” Rodriguez said. “I just go up, see the ball and hit the ball.”

Rodriguez never had a chance for his fourth homer, getting left on deck when Mike Lamb struck out to end the eighth. He insisted that a four-homer game never crossed his mind.

Rafael Palmeiro and Herbert Perry also homered for the Rangers, last in the AL West at 53-68.

Rodriguez leads the majors with 107 runs batted in and is second in homers to Sammy Sosa, who hit his 43rd for the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. This is also Sosa’s fifth consecutive 40-homer season.

“There are a few guys in the majors at a different level, and Alex is definitely right there at the top of that list,” Ranger Manager Jerry Narron said.

“Not to take anything away from anybody else, but he is the best of all. And his career will prove that out.”

Babe Ruth holds the major league record with seven consecutive 40-homer seasons from 1926-32. Ralph Kiner, Duke Snider and Ken Griffey Jr. have all had five in a row.

Rodriguez’s first two homers Saturday, a 404-foot shot to left and a 416-foot blast to right-center, came off Steve Parris (5-4). He hit a 366-foot homer down the right-field line off Corey Thurman in the seventh.

It was the second three-homer game of Rodriguez’s career, the other also coming against the Blue Jays while he was with Seattle on April 16, 2000.

He has seven multihomer games this season and 27 in his career.