DETROIT — Joe Girardi made out last night’s lineup card knowing it could the team’s last game of the season. Yet he still left Alex Rodriguez’s name off it for a second straight night, and the manager admitted it could lead to repercussions.
“Right now you have to worry about the present,’’ Girardi said of sitting Rodriguez against right-hander Max Scherzer before Game 4 was postponed due to inclement weather at Comerica Park. “But you do have to worry about the long-term effect as time goes on.’’
Rodriguez also was left wondering if his benching was related to The Post’s story that he spent part of Game 1 of the ALCS flirting with women in the stands at Yankee Stadium, a story Rodriguez called “laughable.”
“It’s a fair question,” said Rodriguez, who is 0-for-18 with 12 strikeouts against righties in the playoffs. “I don’t want to over-think it. One thing I never do is I never quit.”
General manager Brian Cashman said again it was purely a baseball decision, even though Eric Chavez is hitless in 14 at bats in the playoffs.
Rodriguez has five years and $114 million remaining on his contract — while Girardi has one year and $3 million remaining — leading many to wonder about the third baseman’s future in The Bronx.
“I don’t sense there is a problem,” the manager said. “But time will tell. But as I said, the greatest marriages have gone through rocky parts.’’
Rodriguez, adding he would “shift to being a cheerleader,” tried to take Girardi off the hook — to an extent.
“I will give Joe a lot of credit,” Rodriguez said. “He’s been very good to me over the years, so he has lot of equity with me. For me, it’s tough. I’m a competitor. I really feel in my heart when I’m in the lineup the team is a better team. We’ll disagree there to the end. I like Joe, I support Joe, and our job right now is to come together like a family.”
Cashman shot down an Internet report the Yankees and Marlins have been in trade discussions involving Rodriguez, calling it “100 percent false.”
And Rodriguez said he wanted to remain with the Yankees.
“There’s blood in the water, and when you don’t play well — and I haven’t played well — some of the criticism I received in nine years, I can take that, it’s well deserved,” Rodriguez said. “But gossip, Page 6, I don’t give a [expletive] about that.
“What I will tell you is that I hope there’s nothing going on like that [repercussions from that story] at this point, because our only focus is on winning a baseball game right now. … I love the Yankees. I love this organization. My focus right now is to help the team come together and not allow negativity and questions and gossip stuff and [stuff] and win a game.”
Rodriguez wasn’t the only high-priced Yankee who wasn’t scheduled to start last night. Curtis Granderson’s name was also left out.
Nick Swisher was reinserted into right field and Brett Gardner moved to center — leaving Granderson to sit.
“I understand it,” said Granderson, who doesn’t have a hit in 10 at bats in the ALCS and has whiffed six times. “We’ve got to make changes and adjustments right now.’’
None bigger than benching one of the team’s biggest stars.
“It’s not that I want to sit Alex Rodriguez,” Girardi said. “But the struggles have continued, like for some other players as well.”
Additional reporting by George A. King III and Mark Hale.