With a 3-for-4 night that included a homer and a double in New York's 10-1 win in Game 4 that put the club on the doorstep of their first World Series since 2001, Alex Rodriguez's postseason production has shifted from monkey off his back to otherworldly. He is now 11-for-27 in the 2009 playoffs with five homers, giving him an OBP of .469 and slugging percentage of 1.000. I asked Rodriguez during Tuesday night's postgame press conference if he had any reservations about pitchers no longer challenging him. "No, I mean one thing coming into this postseason (was) that I had to trust my teammates and pass the baton," replied Rodriguez. "That's something that Kevin Long preaches all the time is swing at strikes, take your base on balls and hopefully score runs." Rodriguez still isn't quite matching the postseasons of Barry Bonds in 2002, or Carlos Beltran in 2004, with the main difference being his lack of walks in comparison, but for a lineup as potent and deep as the Yankees, the impact feels just as important. The Phillies were 19th in intentional walks allowed with 31 while the Dodgers led all of baseball with 68. While Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Hideki Matsui have produced well, the Yankees have had drops in production from Nick Swisher, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Johnny Damon and particularly Mark Teixeira. Teixeira has a postseason OPS of .469, going 4-for-24 with four walks and eight strikeouts; it has been a long time since his walk-off line drive homer in Game 2 of the ALDS. Fortunately for Rodriguez and Joe Girardi, he protects Teixeira and not the other way around.