Alex Rodriguez played poorly in the Yankees' American League Division Series loss in part because he was saddened by the death of the uncle who raised him, the slugger's mother said in an interview published in a local newspaper Sunday. Lourdes Navarro said her son kept the Sept. 30 death of his uncle to himself because he was committed to helping his team win. "I think he should speak with the team and tell them that his uncle, who was like his father because he raised him since he was 8, died in a hospital in Miami," Navarro told Listin daily newspaper. Navarro didn't say what caused the death of Augusto Bolivar Navarro, who was her last surviving brother.