Rodriguez still stuck at 599

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Yankees fans got two big home runs from their favorite team — just not the one they really came out to see.

Curtis Granderson hit a two-run shot, though Alex Rodriguez failed to connect for his 600th homer in New York’s 3-2 win over the Cleveland Indians on Monday night.

Nick Swisher also homered for New York, now 16-5 in July.

“It was big because it helped my team,” Granderson said. “I was just trying to keep the inning going, got it up in the air and it went out.”

Granderson connected with one out in the eighth inning off Jake Westbrook (6-7), who held Rodriguez hitless in three at-bats and was clinging to a 2-1 lead. Jorge Posada reached on a one-out single before Granderson delighted a large portion of the crowd of 27,224 hoping to see homer history.

Indians manager Manny Acta said he didn’t want to bring in a reliever to face Granderson, who homered twice on Sunday.

“I wouldn’t even think about taking out a guy who had a two-hitter in the eighth,” Acta said. “I don’t second-guess myself. I’m not flipping coins in the dugout.”

The normally mild-mannered Westbrook kicked the mound, grabbed the resin bag and fired it to the ground as Granderson circled the bases.

“That was the ball game,” Westbrook said. “A two-run home run when you’re up a run in the eighth, that’s what I’m upset about.”

Rodriguez popped out to first in the ninth on perhaps the best pitch he had to hit all night, a fastball by reliever Chris Perez, and finished 0 for 4.

He wasn’t upset that he failed to hit the homer, though.

“I’d rather not hit a home run and win then hit a home run and lose,” Rodriguez said. “It’s going to come whether it’s this week or next week or next month.”

Shin-Soo Choo put Cleveland ahead 2-1 in the sixth with an RBI double off Javier Vasquez (9-7). Travis Hafner hit a solo homer in the second. It was the designated hitter’s fifth straight hit.

Vazquez gave up two runs and five hits over seven innings, improving to 6-2 in 10 starts since June 1. He left after walking Michael Brantley to open the eighth. David Robertson and Boone Logan finished that inning and Mariano Rivera worked the ninth for his 21st save in 23 chances.

After striking out his first time up, Rodriguez had an apparent single turned into a bizarre double play in the fourth by third base umpire Jerry Meals.

With Mark Teixeira on first and one out, Rodriguez hit a sinking liner that appeared to touch the ground before going into the glove of left fielder Trevor Crowe. Teixeira saw it that way and was pointing to the ground and saying the ball had been trapped as he stood on second base. Meals, however, ruled it a catch and second baseman Jason Donald took Crowe’s throw and tagged Teixeira.