Kate Hudson has become the patron saint of the Yankees. Since Alex Rodriguez began romancing Kate, his game has improved, he’s getting love from the fans, his teammates and the media. On Monday, I got caught up watching the game, which went into two extra innings. Normally, I wouldn’t care, but House was starting after the game, and I wanted to see if the camera went to Kate. I was rewarded with a glimpse of Kurt Russell, who seemed thrilled to be there and very supportive of Kate and A-Rod. Of course, I think I lent my own bad mojo to the game, because the Yankees lost the one time I cared enough to watch. Gah!

Anyway, it looks like Kate is going to stick with A-Rod, even if he doesn’t want her (I think he does want her, but that’s not my point). Kate is good for his game. And whatever she wants him to do, he’ll probably do for the sake of the game. Even if it involves Buddha and prayer beads:

Some kind of higher power must be watching over Alex Rodriguez in the Yanks-Angels playoff series — but he’s probably not sure which one.

A source close to the Bronx Bomber calls A-Rod a “religious chameleon” who lately has been flirting with Buddhism, thanks to girlfriend Kate Hudson.

“It’s an important part of her life,” says the insider about the religion of the slugger’s squeeze, who was raised as a Buddhist. “And it seems like Alex really just wants to make her happy.”

A spy sitting behind the blond bombshell at Yankee Stadium last Friday night (right behind the dugout, natch) says the actress even brought Buddha prayer beads with her to the game, carefully laying them across the railing in front of her seats. “It was a long strand of brown beads, and she and her friends would pick them up from time to time,” the fan said.

Her good-luck ritual must have worked. That night the Yanks crushed the Angels 4-1.

This isn’t the first time Rodriguez has gotten religious for a galpal. Previously, the heavy hitter had a stint with the ancient Jewish religion kabbalah while dating Madonna. A-Rod even went so far as to rub elbows with the sect’s NYC elite, including Kabbalah Center higher-ups Eitan Yardeni and Rabbi Michael Berg. But he left his red string and Hebrew lessons behind when he and Madge went their separate ways.

At the very least, Rodriguez’s brand-new interest in Buddhism is bound to help him hit a home run with Hudson’s family. Her mother, Goldie Hawn, is an active practitioner who has met the Dalai Lama. “Goldie more than approves of Alex,” says the insider. “If he becomes a Buddhist, it’ll only seal the deal.”

While a rep for A-Rod refused to comment and Hudson’s rep didn’t return calls, Yankee fans are sure to support anything that helps the team get into the World Series. Everybody say, “Om!”

[From Gatecrasher]

I get the feeling that A-Rod doesn’t have much going on in the intelligence or soul departments, and he just copies whatever his girlfriend does. But Buddhism and baseball? Stranger things have happened. And it cracks me up to think of Kate bringing out the prayer beads just so the Yankees will win.