ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Having already said he wasn’t hired to manage Derek Jeter’s farewell tour, Joe Girardi didn’t let the iconic shortstop get in the way of an effort to win a game Sunday in the Yankees’ eventual 5-1, 12-inning victory.
After Jeter opened the 11th inning with a sharp single to right with the score knotted, 1-1, Girardi lifted the Yankees captain for pinch-runner Ichiro Suzuki.
“I am taking a chance of getting a run there. Ich probably has a better chance of stealing a base,’’ said Girardi, who watched Ichiro swipe second, but then had the steal voided by replay that showed he was out. “It’s a hard decision to make, but with some of the inexperience I have in the bullpen, I went for it that inning.’’
Doing anything with Jeter is scrutinized more than any move Girardi makes, but the manager was fixated on getting ahead and Ichiro runs better than Jeter.
“It’s a little risky play to run, but I am doing everything I can to get a run,’’ Girardi said. “I put in a guy I thought had a chance to steal a base and he was darn close. You have to weigh everything and I went for it that inning.’’
After the replay people in New York ruled Wil Myers had caught Brett Gardner’s fourth-inning drive on a rebound off the right-field wall instead of in the air, they had to decide where Gardner would be placed. The initial call on the field was that Gardner was out. Now he was safe, but at what base? They eventually settled for a double that drove in the game’s first run.
Encouraged to keep running, Gardner has reached home. He and the Yankees believed he had an inside-the-park homer that would have given the Yankees a 2-0 lead.
Yet, there was nothing Girardi could do.
“That’s what they decide in New York,’’ Girardi said of placing Gardner on second. “It has nothing to do with the umpires on the field. I have no recourse with that. I can’t argue with the people in New York. It’s a judgment where they thought he would have ended up and they thought he would have ended up on second.’’
Gardner was glad to have replay because without it his fly ball would have been an inning-ending out, but was still miffed it wasn’t a homer.
“I feel like that because we are taught to keep going,’’ Gardner said. “The right fielder knew he didn’t catch the ball.”
Mark Teixeira, who returned from a 15-day stint on the disabled list and went 2-for-6, was livid about being called out on a pitch near his ankles. He also committed his third error in five games.
Before Sunday’s game, the Yankees put Ivan Nova on the DL, sent Scott Sizemore to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and designated Matt Daley for assignment.
In their place were Bryan Mitchell, Teixeira and Preston Claiborne. Mitchell, a right-hander, was promoted from Double-A Trenton where he was starting. The right-handed reliever Claiborne was elevated from Triple-A, where he started the season after a subpar spring training.
Claiborne provided two scoreless relief innings.
Daley, who gave up six runs (four earned) and five hits in 1 ¹/₃ innings Saturday night, joined Cesar Cabral in DFA land.
Two games after avoiding serious injury by running into and over the right-field fence in foul territory, Carlos Beltran was back in right field Sunday.
Beltran, who was the designated hitter Saturday night, went 2-for-6 Sunday and drove in two runs in the 12th with a single.
Jorge Posada visited the Yankees on the field during batting practice and in the clubhouse before Sunday’s game.
Girardi, who once removed Robinson Cano from a game for a perceived lack of hustle in the field, had a sense of what Matt Williams went through Saturday when the Nationals manager yanked star outfielder Bryce Harper from the game for not running hard to first base.
“It’s not an easy thing to do. Obviously it sounds like an understanding and everybody moves on,’’ said Girardi, who wasn’t bothered by Cano not running hard to first base for years. “What I try to do is you don’t want to embarrass anybody, but you have to get your point across.’’
Girardi said he believes not every less-than-100 percent effort is intentional.
“Sometimes guys aren’t conscious they are doing it when you talk to them, sometimes it’s frustration, you make an out or swing at a bad pitch,’’ Girardi said. “Sometimes it just happens. When it becomes a trend, you feel like you have to do something about it.’’