A-Rod safe at home on overturned call

OAKLAND -- Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez grazed home plate with his left hand, evading a tag from Athletics catcher Josh Phegley to score from second base on a single in a video-reviewed play Thursday night at the Coliseum.

Rodriguez's athletic play delivered the Yankees' second run in a 5-4 loss to the A's. A review of two minutes, 45 seconds overturned the initial call by home-plate umpire Ed Hickox, as Rodriguez's left hand was shown to have touched the plate.

"That was not pretty. That looked like Shaquille O'Neal coming out of a pick," Rodriguez said. "I'm glad they got it right."

Rodriguez was waved home on Brian McCann's fourth-inning single to center field. The throw home beat Rodriguez, who dodged Phegley's swipe tag and tumbled over the plate.

Hickox believed that Rodriguez missed the plate and called him out when Phegley applied the tag, but Rodriguez immediately gestured to manager Joe Girardi that he had been safe and the Yankees challenged the call.

"I was confident," Rodriguez said. "When Joe asked me, I said, 'I think so, but I'm not 100 percent.' I thought I felt it with my fingers."

Girardi said that his thoughts watching the play were to hope that Rodriguez would be safe, and also that he would get up without an injury.

"I don't want to see him doing that too many times," Girardi said.