Alex Rodriguez

Is it better to be lucky or good?

In Alex Rodriguez's case, last night he was a little bit of both.

No, I'm not just excited because Alex Rodriguez hit a three-run home run with two strikes and two outs in the ninth inning of last night's game to claim a dramatic, 4-3 come-from-behind victory for the Yankees in Baltimore.

The Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-3 in Camden Yards last night behind a pair of homers by Alex Rodriguez—including a three-run homer in the top of the ninth with two strikes and two outs to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 lead—and a decent pitching performance from starter A.J. Burnett.

Here are some highlights:

Joe Torre is undoubtedly one of the most successful managers in sports history. Starting as a manager for the Yankees in 1996, Torre went on to manage the team for 12 straight years, bringing them to the playoffs in each year. Also add in four championships.

At the end of the 2007 season, Joe Girardi took over as the Yankees manager, and Torre went on to manage the Dodgers. Three years later, he has announced that he will be stepping down as manager of the Dodgers in 2011, and will hand over the job to Don Mattingly.

Yankee fans were unhappy—to say the least—on Monday night, when the Yankees surrendered first place to the Rays for the first time since August 3. Tuesday night, the Yankees got first place back, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Amidst all that anger came an interesting thought: what if, by some chance, the Yankees didn’t win the division?

Almost a year ago, September 13, Joe Girardi was a ticked off manager.  Even though the Yankees had the best record in the game (92-52) and a seven-game lead in the AL East over the Boston Red Sox, Girardi had been tossed out of a close game against the Orioles for arguing balls and strikes.  

With a 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay, the Yankees dropped out of first place for the first time since August 3.  They've lost seven of their past eight games, three via the walk-off.  No one player has been entirely blameless during the stretch and many players have played poorly, or not at all.

As of September 12th, the Yankees are 87-56, a half game up on the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East. The division will be at stake with the crucial upcoming Rays series in St. Petersburg.

Courtesy of Dove Men+Care, Lady Loves Pinstripes was given the opportunity to ask New York Yankees Manager Joe Girardi some personal questions about his life at home and on the field.

Here is Lady Loves Pinstripes exclusive Q&A with Yankees Joe Girardi.

Lade Loves Pinstripes: Where do you see yourself in five years?

Alex Rodriguez locked in on a Brian Matusz offering Monday and unleashed the instantly-recognizable swing that has always seemed too easy and too effortless, to do any real damage.

But we know better by now. Rodriguez cocked his head to follow the flight of the ball then flashed his trademark "Trust me, I'm awesome" glance into his own dugout: always his sign that he knows he got all of it.