NEW YORK -- The nearly 40,000 fans at Yankee Stadium wanted to once again believe in Alex Rodriguez. They were chanting, growing louder and louder, "Let's go, A-Rod! Let's go, A-Rod!" The fans were filling the stadium with encouragement.

The New York Yankees were down by three runs in the seventh to the Minnesota Twins. The bases were loaded. Even though, Rodriguez had hit the most grand slams in major league history, he entered in a bad way -- a 1-for-27 slump, which included no hits in his last 18-at-bats. As for homers, Rodriguez had not hit one since his 40th birthday on July 27.

Still, all those years in the game, all those big moments in which he has succeeded and failed, all his turmoil that peaked with his 2014 full-season suspension for PED use, gave Rodriguez a big advantage over 25-year-old rookie J.R. Graham. He's been in this type of moment, done that.

Graham's 1-0, 95-mph fastball had no chance against A-Rod. Rodriguez wrote another tale for his comeback season, blasting an opposite field grand slam into the Yankees' bullpen, giving the Yankees a 5-4 lead in what eventually was an 8-4 win as the Twins perpetually played the Washington Generals to the Yankees' Harlem Globetrotters.

Despite his mostly miserable early playoff history with the Yankees, Rodriguez can handle the big moments with his strong mechanics and his experience at 40.

"I think some guys have it and I think some guys develop it and they understand I don't need to be any different than the person that I am," Joe Girardi said of handling big moments. "Sometimes guys can try to do too much. That is what you can guard against as a player. Some guys are just naturally able to relax from Day 1. For most, though, it is learning how to hit in those situations."

A-Rod added, "I have certainly felt a lot more comfortable in those situations; especially this year. I've been through a lot. I've been in those situations many, many times. The format never changes, you want to get a good pitch and put a good swing on it."

It is amazing where A-Rod has risen to in the Yankees' universe. Once a pariah, he led three Yankees onto the "Today Show" to kick off the Yankees' charitable initiative known as HOPE Week on Monday morning. The guy who many a columnist and talk show host said the Yankees should just cut will be honored next month for his 3,000th hit in a pregame ceremony.

The thought of Rodriguez one day returning for Old Timers Day, which once was unimaginable, now seems quite likely. In fact, it would seem unfathomable if he weren't invited back (pending no further missteps with two more years on his contract after this one).

While he is not to the point where he will be honored in Monument Park one day, it should be noted that Andy Pettitte -- named in the Mitchell Report for PED use -- will have his No. 46 retired on Sunday.

Rodriguez is all the way back with many, if not most, Yankee fans. You could hear it with how they chanted his name and believed in him, despite his recent struggles. They thought his 25th homer of the season was on the horizon.

It was, flying through the night, a dramatic moment in a season he couldn't have really dreamed up. He came around the bases and the roar of the crowd didn't stop. They wanted No. 13 out for a curtain call. He obliged.

"I told you early on, I thought those days were long gone," Rodriguez said of the response.

Nope, they seem here to stay as Rodriguez continues to come through in dramatic spots.

"Huge hit, just absolutely huge," Girardi said.

CC Sabathia said, "That's Al."