Alex Rodriguez cannot start today in a decisive Game 5 against Jason Hammel. This isn’t punishment or statement. Just the obvious. He is helpless, hapless and hopeless against right-handed pitching.
So much so that when Eric Chavez pinch-hit for Rodriguez with two outs in the 13th inning against Jim Johnson last night it hardly caused a ripple of controversy a day after the decision to pinch-hit Raul Ibanez for A-Rod with the game on the line against Johnson 24 hours earlier created a storm. It is just blatant what must be done at a moment when Rodriguez has become a human white flag against righties (0-for-11 in this series with nine strikeouts).
Rodriguez said he “absolutely” expects to start at third in Game 5, but he also claims he is still having good at-bats. He is speaking from pride, memory or delusion.
Here is the reality: If manager Joe Girardi didn’t trust one of the best power bats ever to hit against a righty, down one run and the game in the balance in both Games 3 and 4, then how could you open a do-or-die affair today with him against a righty? Chavez must start.
Nevertheless, this should not exonerate the rest of the team. Rodriguez did not go 2-for-21 with men on base all by himself yesterday. He was not alone in managing one run in 13 innings with a chance to finally deliver a knockout blow to the gallant, refuse-to-die Orioles.
“It’s not [A-Rod],” Chavez said. “It’s all of us.”
Derek Jeter had two hits and his starting shortstop replacement, Jayson Nix, had two hits. The rest of the lineup, in what became a 2-1 Orioles victory in 13 innings, combined to go 3-for-35. Again there was a lot of offensive malfeasance, but Curtis Granderson clearly is Rodriguez’s starkest co-pilot in incompetence, right now.
Girardi was hoping Jeter and his bum left ankle could get back to shortstop today. But if he must DH, then Granderson has to sit. For the clutch bat of Ibanez has to be added as the left fielder, with Ichiro Suzuki moving to center. Even if Jeter can play, perhaps the Yankees are best served putting Ibanez in left regardless and having Nix DH, such is the level of non-competitive at-bats Granderson has produced in going 1-for-16 with nine strikeouts.
So it is possible in a decisive Game 5 that the Yankees will be without two of the greatest players ever — Jeter and Rodriguez — in the field, and with their homer and RBIs leader in each of the past two seasons, Granderson, also on the bench. But when in a must-win spot like this Girardi cannot honor pedigree, contracts or feelings; cannot worry if benching A-Rod will cause a stink and/or long-term ramifications in their relationship.
True to his pattern, Girardi would not commit to a lineup immediately after last night’s loss. And there is always the possibility that in a game of this magnitude he will stick with his core players, including Nick Swisher (2-for-15 and now a career .139 hitter in 165 playoff at-bats) and Ichiro (4-for-21) and Robinson Cano (2-for-18). Again, this is not just Rodriguez and Granderson.
The offensive no-show has meant the Yankees have incurred a loss even should they move on to the ALCS against Detroit. CC Sabathia now has to start Game 5, which means the earliest he can be available against the Tigers is on short rest in Game 3.
And until this point the Yankees have squandered excellent work from their starters (2.35 ERA) and their bullpen. Baltimore has forced a decisive game despite scoring just eight runs in four games, two of which have gone extra innings.
That is because the Yankees’ un-clutch pathology has travelled to the playoffs. In only two innings so far have they managed to get hits from consecutive batters. Last night, they were 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
“They have good pitchers, but we’re a good offensive team and we should be able to score more runs than we have,” Chavez said.
Because they haven’t the Yankees and Orioles finish a day tied for the 12th time since Sept. 1 Until this point, Baltimore has been unable to nudge ahead alone. But that would not matter at all if the Orioles win this series three-to-two, win the season series 12-11. Then it would be the underdog Orioles moving ahead and on.
The Yankees lost three ALDS games by a total of four runs last year because their offense shut down and their two losses this year are by a total of two runs. Either the lineup awakes or the Yankees will be explaining first-round humiliation yet again.
joel.sherman@nypost.com