MILWAUKEE — Joe Girardi put what he felt was best for the Yankees and Derek Jeter ahead of baseball fans desire to see Jeter play in his final season.
So, the manager inserted defensive wizard Brendan Ryan at shortstop Saturday night against the Brewers at Miller Field and gave Jeter his fourth day of rest this season. Jeter also missed two days in mid-April with a quadriceps problem.
But three innings into a 5-4 loss Ryan’s fielding error opened door for three unearned runs.
“I am in a no-win situation, but I have to do what’s best for the team and best for the player,’’ Girardi said of resting the 39-year-old Jeter and giving Ryan his first start of the season. “It’s a difficult situation I am in. Some people bought tickets to see him. I want to see him but I have to do what’s best.’’
As always, Jeter politely disagreed with the day off.
“He knows I don’t like it, but it’s his choice,’’ Jeter said. “I like to play every day. That’s what the game is, it’s an everyday game. I don’t like days off. It’s nothing new, it’s been like [that] since ’96.’’
Ryan missed the first six weeks of the season because of a cervical nerve problem.
Girardi likely will rest second baseman Brian Roberts on Sunday and could find a way to get Ichiro Suzuki’s sizzling bat in the lineup against right-hander Matt Garza.
“We will see,’’ Girardi said when asked of Ichiro will play. “He has been playing really well.’’
Ichiro singled as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and popped up for the final out of the game. He has 10 hits in the last 26 at-bats (.385) and is batting .377 (20-for-53) overall.
Alfonso Soriano had an RBI single as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and needs one more hit to become the seventh player in history with at least 1,000 hits in the AL and NL.
Girardi said Shawn Kelley’s lower back problem was improving but not enough to allow the right-handed reliever to pitch.
“It’s better, my guess is we get him back [Sunday],’’ Girardi said of Kelley, who wasn’t available to work the eighth inning in Friday night’s 5-3 win. “It felt a lot better.’’
Kelley underwent an MRI exam Friday that didn’t reveal any disk problem.
Without Kelley, Girardi stayed with Adam Warren, who was on the mound for the final two outs of the seventh.
Warren then provided a perfect eighth to get the game to David Robertson who recorded the final three outs for the save.
It was the latest successful outing for Warren, who may have launched a big league career in the bullpen by not winning the fifth starter’s spot in spring training that went to Michael Pineda.
In 16 appearances Warren was 1-1 with a 1.29 ERA and had 17 strikeouts against four walks in 21 innings. Outside of giving up three runs and four hits in an inning against the Rays on April 17, Warren has pitched well enough that the Yankees inserted fellow reliever David Phelps into the rotation for Pineda when he went on the DL partly because they didn’t want to mess with a good thing.
Since April 17, Warren has pitched in four games and not given up a run in 11 ¹/₃ innings and eight hits. With Girardi not wanting to use Robertson for more than three outs this early in the season, Warren’s ability to work more than one inning is valuable. In his last seven outings the right-hander has worked more than one frame five times.
Yangervis Solarte, who went 1-for-4, went into Saturday night’s game leading the Yankees with 18 RBIs.
That was third among MLB rookies. Jose Abreu of the White Sox led with 37 and the Tigers’ Nick Castellanos was second with 19.