BOSTON — If the Yankees’ season weren’t on the line Sunday night at Fenway Park, Alfonso Soriano wouldn’t have been in manager Joe Girardi’s lineup.
“If it’s not September and we aren’t in the race, I’d take a couple of days off, but it’s not the time to take a day off,’’ said Soriano, who didn’t play Saturday due to a sprained right thumb he injured making a diving catch Thursday night in Baltimore. He played Friday night, but Saturday it was too sore for him to swing a bat.
“It’s not normal but it’s OK,’’ said Soriano, who is treating the problem with ice but did not receive a cortisone injection.
After going 1-for-2 with a walk in the Yankees’ 9-2 loss, Soriano said the thumb was a bit better.
“[Saturday] was the worst day,’’ he said. “It feels better. There is still pain, but the tape helps. I will use tape for the rest of the season.’’
Mariano Rivera has been honored in every ballpark the Yankees have visited this year. In Boston on Saturday night, Rivera’s teammates threw him a dinner.
Boone Logan left the team hotel yesterday and was headed to Pensacola, Fla., to see Dr. James Andrews and have his left elbow examined.
Logan hasn’t pitched since Sept. 6 due to inflammation, and received a cortisone shot the following day.
Last week, he asked the Yankees to send the MRI result to Andrews. Saturday night, after Logan played catch, the team opted to put Logan on a plane.
“We decided to send him there to reassure everything is OK,’’ Girardi said.
Alex Rodriguez was the DH Sunday night for the fifth straight game, and Girardi didn’t know when a balky left hamstring would allow Rodriguez to play third again. And that was before Rodriguez left the game with a tight right calf.
“It’s kind of day by day. I figured I wouldn’t ask him [Sunday] because we have the day off [Monday] and I still haven’t seen him run real good,’’ Girardi said. “We’ll see where we are Tuesday.’’
Since suffering the injury running the bases in Baltimore last Tuesday, Rodriguez is 3-for-14 (.214) with a homer and five walks.
Brendan Ryan started his fifth straight game at shortstop Sunday night, and Eduardo Nunez was on the bench for the second consecutive game.
Girardi said Nunez not making a play in Friday night’s game at third didn’t play a factor in him not being at short.
“Ryan has played extremely well,” Girardi said of the shortstop who was acquired from Seattle last week. “We are kind of staying with the hot hand. He is playing really good.’’
The light-hitting Ryan is 5-for-18 (.278) with a homer and an RBIs in five games.