by Ken Rosenthal

His breakthrough moment in Game 4 of the World Series — following an incendiary one earlier — perfectly demonstrated the evolution of A- Rod. Rather than overreact to getting hit in the first inning, he did what so many advised him to do for so long:

Shut up and play.

Rodriguez's revenge, if you want to call it that, came in the ninth, when he crushed a two-out double off Phillies closer Brad Lidge, scoring Johnny Damon with the go-ahead run in the Yankees' 7-4 victory.

Afterward, Rodriguez said he did not want to comment about getting hit for the third time in two games. But several of his teammates, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Phillies were going after A-Rod intentionally.

"No question," one Yankee said. "It's blatant."

"Our whole team thinks they were throwing at A-Rod," another Yankee said.

In fact, according to a third Yankees' player, someone in the dugout even predicted that Phillies right-hander Joe Blanton would hit Rodriguez with one out and Damon on third in the first.

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The player who heard the remark — "You watch, they're going to hit him" — didn't believe it, thinking the same thing that manager Joe Girardi would tell reporters in the interview room later.

"It's pretty hard to hit people intentionally when there are runners in scoring position," Girardi said.

Well, Blanton did hit Rodriguez. With his first pitch.

Rodriguez paused and looked into the Yankees' dugout. He appeared to tell plate umpire Mike Everitt, "That's the third time. It's obvious," on the FOX replays.

Everitt assured A-Rod that that the umpires would handle the matter, and indeed they did, issuing warnings to both sides. A-Rod, who rarely loses his temper, briefly put his arm around Everitt and calmly walked to first base.

Blanton had no rational reason to hit Rodriguez, not when the Phillies already trailed, 1-0. But the Fightin' Phils are decidedly old-school. The way to beat Rodriguez is by attacking him inside. If you miss, well, take your base, buddy.

The Dodgers never recovered in last year's National League Championship Series after Phillies right-hander Brett Myers threw at Russell Martin and behind Manny Ramirez in the first inning of Game 2.

Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels hit Rodriguez with his first pitch leading off the second inning of Game 3. Right-hander Chad Durbin later hit him on a 2-2 count with a man on first and two out in the seventh.

Intentional? Not intentional? Only the Phillies know.

Rodriguez wisely did not get suckered into their game.

He is only 2-for-14 in the Series, and looked particularly bad in the first two games, going 0-for-8 with two strikeouts. But even then, he projected unusual calm, staying on point like a politician during the off-day between Games 2 and 3, saying repeatedly that he needed to swing at strikes.

His two-run, opposite-field homer in the fourth inning of Game 3 helped trigger the Yankees' comeback from a 3-0 deficit. But he was 0- for-3 as he stepped to the plate against Lidge in the ninth inning of Game 4.

Damon stole second and third on a 1-0 count to Mark Teixeira. Lidge, after hitting Teixeira, had little choice but to throw Rodriguez fastballs. One faulty slider, and Damon could have scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch.

The Phillies had instructed their pitchers not to let Rodriguez beat them. Well, it was the right idea, anyway. Lidge threw an 0-1 fastball. A-Rod didn't miss.

"There's no question, I have never had a bigger hit," Rodriguez said.

That is about as as effusive as he gets now. His interviews are remarkably dull. The only interesting thing about him off the field is his romance with actress Kate Hudson. But even that relationship pales in comparison to the tabloid absurdity of his divorce, which allegedly was caused by his infatuation with Madonna.

For A-Rod to reach rock bottom, he had to torch his marriage, admit to using steroids and undergo major hip surgery. Any of those three could leave a man broken, or close to it. But the combination of catastrophes helped Rodriguez finally grasp the essential truth of his existence. Baseball is what makes him special, nothing else.

Just three years ago, former Yankees manager Joe Torre batted him eighth in a playoff game. Now with one more victory, A-Rod's remarkable journey to postseason salvation will be complete.

Simple game.

Shut up and play.