Joe Girardi, in a futile attempt to take some pressure off Alex Rodriguez, hit him sixth in the lineup last night.
The plan to shield the third baseman was thwarted immediately when Rodriguez came up with the bases loaded and two out in the first inning of the Yankees’ 6-4, 12-inning loss to the Tigers in Game 1 of the ALCS, a game he was later removed from.
Rodriguez sent a hard grounder toward shortstop, where Jhonny Peralta made a diving play to force Raul Ibanez at second base to end the inning.
At this point, it came as no surprise.
Rodriguez received standing ovations in his early at-bats last night, as if the Yankee Stadium crowd was trying to cheer on an overwhelmed young player.
It was yet another example of just how far he’s fallen.
And if he needed another, it came in the eighth inning, when he was removed for a pinch-hitter, once again.
This time, his benching was overshadowed by Derek Jeter’s injury, but with nothing but right-handed starters coming from Detroit, Rodriguez looks to be in for another long series.
Girardi removed the possibility of Rodriguez moving to shortstop after Jeter fractured his left ankle.
“No, I wouldn’t do that,” the manager said. “It’s been too long.”
He could have been talking about the last time Rodriguez had a significant hit.
Before being removed for Eric Chavez, Rodriguez went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and a double play.
And, not surprisingly, those cheers he heard quickly subsided.
“The first at-bat he had, he had a good at-bat,” Girardi said. “You can look at this game and Peralta makes an outstanding play. They get a break.”
Prior to the game, the manager didn’t sound like he had a hard time making the call to play Rodriguez after benching him Friday and pinch-hitting for him twice against the Orioles.
“This is a guy that we expect a lot from,” Girardi said. “And he had struggled in the first round, but this is a guy we know can do a lot of damage. I talk about sometimes going with my gut and evaluating what I see and different things you take into account when you made lineup up, talk to people and I think he’s raring to go. And I think he’s ready to go.”
Alarmingly for the Yankees, the Tigers throw nothing but right-handed starters and Rodriguez has been especially ineffective against them.
After Doug Fister threw last night, Anibal Sanchez is scheduled for today, followed by Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.
Girardi, though, can’t afford to shelve Rodriguez for an entire playoff series and he believed he could put his recent struggles behind him.
“I think in a sense, everyone should press the reset button,” Girardi said.