The Yanks bounced back yesterday, as we all hoped, beating the Twins 9-3, featuring strong showings from Chien-Ming Wang, Jason Giambi, Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez was critical of his own performance after Saturday night’s tough loss. According to Sam Borden in the Daily News:

Joe Torre wasn’t surprised to hear Rodriguez was being hard on himself because he’s seen A-Rod “set the bar sky-high” ever since Rodriguez arrived in the Bronx. Torre sometimes wishes Rodriguez would give himself a break.

“He drives himself to the point of expecting himself to do more than any human being is capable of doing,” Torre said. “Alex is very tough on himself because he doesn’t think he should do anything wrong ever. I don’t think we can live our lives that way.”

…”He never tires of physical work,” Torre said. “He’s out there constantly, trying to make himself better. Over 162 games, it takes its toll.”

Rodriguez can be called a lot of things. A slacker is not one of ’em.