Alex Rodriguez has been playing on a bum knee since last weekend — not that you would know it watching him hit.
The Yankees slugger drove in three runs in an 8-3 rout of the Rockies, and revealed after the game that he injured his right knee last Sunday at Wrigley Field.
Rodriguez exited the game in the top of the eighth inning, but Yankees manager Joe Girardi said that was just precautionary. The 35-year-old third baseman said he does not think he will need to miss any time and expects to play today.
“It’s getting better,” Rodriguez said. “I think there’s some injuries you can play through and some you can’t. This one is one I feel like I can play through.”
The knee clearly was bothering Rodriguez on a third-inning double that knocked in two runs. He limped his way to second base. Even with the injury, Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with a walk, and led a Yankees offense that drilled 15 hits and gave CC Sabathia a big lead to work with — not that he needed it.
Sabathia was brilliant, hitting 97 mph on the radar gun and making the Rockies look silly with his slider. He gave up seven hits and one run in eight innings, tying his season high with nine strikeouts and walking one. The win moved him to 10-4, the first 10-game winner in the majors. The win, and Boston’s 6-4 loss to the Pirates last night, also gave the Yankees a 1/2-game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East.
“I wish I could say it meant something but it doesn’t,” Sabathia said of the win total. “We’re here to win championships. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
In his third season as a Yankee, Sabathia continues to be as steady as a metronome. This was the 50th win of his Yankees career, and it came in his 85th start for the team, tying Chien-Ming Wang as the fastest Yankee to hit that mark.
“His stuff was as good as I’ve seen it all year,” Girardi said.
The offense gave Sabathia plenty of support. Every starter had a hit except Robinson Cano. Jorge Posada went 3-for-3, his third three-hit game in June.
Mark Teixeira blasted his 22nd home run in the eighth inning to put the game on ice.
The focus after the game, though, was on Rodriguez. He injured the knee in the sixth inning last Sunday night against the Cubs. Rodriguez broke for home on a Randy Wells wild pitch, then changed his mind. He said the knee “caught a little bit” as he pivoted back to third.
The knee has not hurt his productivity. Rodriguez has at least one RBI in his last five games, and is batting .545 with six runs, four doubles and eight RBIs over his last six games.
Girardi, Rodriguez and general manger Brian Cashman all said after the game that they are not concerned about the knee. Cashman said Rodriguez has not received treatment, although Rodriguez said he has seen the team doctors each day.
Rodriguez, who is under contract through 2017, showed the knee is not limiting him when he scored from third on a short sacrifice fly by Nick Swisher in the third. Rodriguez took advantage of the right-handed Ryan Spilborghs playing left field, and slid headfirst into home to beat the throw.
“You pray,” Rodriguez said jokingly about knowing he could score. “I sensed that he was fading a little bit toward center field and I knew that for a right-handed thrower that’s a very tough throw so I took a chance.”
brian.costello@nypost.com