"I had a cheesesteak before the game. That got me going," Gonzalez said when asked about what caused his latest hitting display, this time in his first game at the new Yankee Stadium.
Gonzalez drilled a long home run to right field and added a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the Red Sox' 5-4 win over the Yankees on Friday night.
Much has been made of Gonzalez's ability to go the other way. Upon entering Yankee Stadium, with its short porch in right, some wondered if he would make adjustments and take advantage of the dimensions. In a word, no.
"Bartolo [Colon] was going to pitch me in, I knew that," he said. "My game plan was to pick and choose my spots … Success or not is not going to be because of the ballpark. It's a game of execution."
Gonzalez has homered in his last three games and in six of his last 10. He leads the American League in RBIs with 31 and is batting .419 (13-for-31) during a seven-game hitting streak.
Those who have seen Gonzalez pepper the ball around Fenway Park, the Rogers Centre in Toronto and now the House that Steinbrenner Built tend to agree.
"I think Adrian's swing is good for any ballpark," Kevin Youkilis said. "He's just an all-around pure hitter. No ballpark can hold him."
And when they serve a nice cheesesteak, it's even more trouble for opposing pitchers.
