BALTIMORE — The Yankees didn’t start winning when Alex Rodriguez got back in the lineup last week. The same was true for Mark Teixeira’s comeback last night.
Teixeira returned after a 10-game absence, but the Yankees looked as listless as ever in a 5-4 loss to the Orioles in front of another packed house at Camden Yards. The gimpy slugger was called out at first on a double-play grounder on an apparently blown call by first-base umpire Jerry Meals to end it.
The first baseman hobbled around the bases and constantly stretched the muscle. When he legged out a double to center in the first inning, he clearly was still bothered by the strained left calf that put him on the bench.
“I think he’s pretty close [to 100 percent], but that doesn’t mean there’s still not in the back of my head a concern until we get through a few days here,” manager Joe Girardi said before the game.
Now back in a first-place tie with the pesky Orioles, the Yankees don’t have much of a margin for error and are in dire need of some punch from the middle of the order, especially since Curtis Granderson and Nick Swisher have fallen off dramatically.
Rodriguez hit his second long homer in as many nights, an eighth-inning blast off Pedro Strop, and Robinson Cano hopes the presence of both Rodriguez and Teixeira behind him in the lineup results in better pitches.
“We have other guys who can do the job, but you need the middle of the lineup,” Cano said.
“It’s not the same without them. It doesn’t matter who you put in there. We all know what they’re capable of doing and not many people can do what they do.”
Still, Teixeira’s calf has not been his only concern. He said the calf has healed, but he still is unsure whether his left wrist is back to normal.
Even before Teixeira felt something tug in the calf as he tried to get out of the batter’s box on Aug. 27, he hardly was the presence in the middle of the lineup the Yankees have typically counted on.
After a 1-for-4 last night, Teixeira is batting .255 with 23 homers and 81 RBIs.
Teixeira and Rodriguez were together in the order for the first time since July 24, and now they will be counted on to provide more than name recognition.
“This hasn’t been a normal year for us,” Cano said. “No one said it was going to be easy, but I like where we are.”