TAMPA – Alex Rodriguez’ stroke appears to be fine, but he still needs to work on infield pop-ups.

A-Rod crushed his first homer in pinstripes yesterday, a two-run shot off Atlanta righty John Thomson to right-center in the first inning of a 10-6 Yankees loss.

However, in the fifth inning, the neophyte third baseman called for a Rafael Furcal pop far too soon and had it drop between the mound and first base without coming close to getting leather on the ball.

“I saw it perfectly but I called it too early,” said A-Rod, who went 2-for-3. “I [messed] that up. It was ugly. I got a little excited and took my eye off it. I want those things to happen in spring training. I work hard in spring training but that’s sad.”

Cutting across the diamond and navigating the mound are new to A-Rod.

“That’s a play that as a shortstop you don’t have to make,” A-Rod said. “You have to keep your eye on the ball, that’s the biggest challenge.”