MINNEAPOLIS — Before this series started Alex Rodriguez was saying how good he felt about his team and about his swing.
Then last night happened.
There were many reasons why the Yankees lost to the Twins 5-4 at Target Field, including some over-managing by Joe Girardi, but one of the biggest reasons was that the Yankees hitters could not take advantage of Esmerling Vasquez, the starting pitcher for the Twins who came into the game with an 0-2 record and bulging 6.75 ERA.
Phil Hughes, Girardi’s by-the-book hook, and Boone Logan gave the game away in the seventh as the Twins scored four runs, but the Yankees should have had much more than a 3-1 lead at that point.
A big part of the inability to take advantage of Vasquez falls on A-Rod’s shoulders. He struck out swinging his first two times up, being beaten by Vasquez’s mediocre fastball. In his second at-bat he was up in the count, 2-0 and 3-1, and yet Vasquez dusted him with high fastballs.
It didn’t help that one of the Yankees’ other big hitters, Curtis Granderson, also struck out swinging his first two at-bats, giving him an incredible 187 strikeouts on the season. But at least Granderson has put together back-to-back 40 home run seasons. Rodriguez appears to be aging daily in front of us. For his shortened season, he has just 18 home runs and 56 RBIs.
His third time up Rodriguez drove a ball to deep center that died and was caught. He has shown little ability to pull the ball with authority, and there is no explosion to his swing.
“I’m getting close,’’ he told two reporters long after the game, but admitted, “I’m feeling OK at the plate, not great.’’
Rodriguez said when he has been getting his pitch he has been fouling it off. He is at the stage in his career where he can’t afford to miss his pitch.
In his fourth at-bat he fell behind 0-2, and then fouled a sinker directly into his left foot, sending him to the ground in pain. He said he should be OK to play today but admitted it was quite a “stinger.’’
Here is the scary part: Rodriguez loves to hit in this park and came in confident. But over his past three games, he is 1-for-15. Before the game, Girardi said Rodriguez was getting out in front too much. His timing is off, but the problems appear to run deeper than that. Rodriguez has no punch to his game. He looks old and slow. Power hitters do not age gracefully.
After his first strikeout, Rodriguez sat in the dugout and looked like a lost hitter, as if he were saying to himself, “How in the world could I miss those pitches?’’
Rodriguez looks like he is in total guess mode right now at the plate. His swings and misses have created a huge hole for the Yankees in the vital third spot in the lineup. Opposing pitchers have not feared Rodriguez for quite some time, but now it is almost outright disdain for Rodriguez. They challenge him with mediocre fastballs and he can’t do anything with those pitchers.
He is 37 and getting older by the day. If Rodriguez can’t supply any power in the three spot the Yankees are not going anywhere in the playoffs. No one is looking for Rodriguez to carry this team, those days are long gone, but at this stage of the game he can’t carry his own reputation. Five Yankees have hit more home runs, and a sixth, Raul Ibanez has as many home runs as Rodriguez.
Over his last 44 games Rodriguez has five home runs. For the season he has 111 strikeouts in 438 at-bats.
“I think for me the best approach is the one I had on Saturday and the third at-bat tonight, which is to hit everything hard back up the middle,’’ Rodriguez said.
Right now, A-Rod is a big swing and a miss.
kevin.kernan@nypost.com