SEATTLE — Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez will take advantage of today’s off day to give the sprained left thumb additional rest.
When manager Joe Girardi said Tuesday that Rodriguez could return tomorrow night in Toronto, Girardi was asked if Rodriguez had to swing a bat before getting back into the lineup. Girardi acknowledged that would be the case.
Nevertheless, late Tuesday night Rodriguez said he wasn’t going to swing the bat yesterday and will test it tomorrow afternoon in Toronto.
Asked if that meant he wasn’t going to play against the Blue Jays, Rodriguez hedged.
“That all depends on how the session goes,” said Rodriguez, who hasn’t played since Friday in Anaheim, Calif.
Since injuring the thumb diving for a ball in Minnesota Aug. 21, Rodriguez has played in nine games and is hitting .258 (8-for-31) with two homers and four RBIs. That was his first game back from July 11 right knee surgery.
Rodriguez took ground balls and played long toss yesterday.
Girardi said “the plan is to put him in there Friday” — if Rodriguez gets through batting practice.
Rodriguez said he wasn’t convinced the thumb would heal in time to face the Blue Jays.
“I haven’t touched a bat in five days,” Rodriguez said. “Maybe [Girardi] has more confidence than me.”
Though Rodriguez acknowledges this has been a frustrating stretch, the option to continue playing wasn’t there.
“I was at the point I had to stop because I was unable to do my job,” Rodriguez said. “It’s not going to feel 100 percent but you have to play through it.”
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Mariano Rivera downplays individual accomplishments at every chance, but he is fully aware he could become the all-time saves leader this weekend in Toronto.
Rivera, who notched save No. 600 Tuesday night, is one shy of leader Trevor Hoffman. With three games in Toronto there is a chance he leaves Canada with the record. Thus, he made plans yesterday to have his family in Toronto this weekend.
“It takes most of the argument away from who is the greatest closer of all time,” Girardi said of Rivera reaching 600 saves. “You look at the postseason as well.”
Rivera has 42 postseason saves.
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While the Yankees were finishing their lunch yesterday, they saw magic number over the Red Sox was lowered to 11 because the free-falling Red Sox lost, 5-4, to the Blue Jays. The Yankees, after last night’s 2-1 12-inning loss to the Mariners, remain four games up on Boston in the AL East.
Girardi would rather eat tacks than talk about anything beyond the next game.
“We know what’s happening,” he said. “You are not going to miss any scores.”
Nevertheless, the Yankees would have to melt down completely to flush a four-game lead with 14 remaining.
Though the Blue Jays aren’t slouches, the Red Sox host the hard-charging Rays for four games this weekend at Fenway Park, starting tonight.
The Rays, who lost 6-2 to the Orioles in Baltimore last night, trail the Red Sox by four games.
After leaving Canada, the Yankees face the Twins at Yankee Stadium in a makeup game Monday and then the schedule gets thick.
There is a four-game series with the Rays at the Stadium, which includes a day/night twinbill Wednesday. Then the Red Sox invade The Bronx for three before the Yankees complete the season in St. Petersburg.
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Russell Martin could have picked an easier pitcher to catch Tuesday night after missing Sunday and Monday because of a bruised right thumb. But Girardi, who didn’t have Francisco Cervelli (concussion), didn’t want to pair A.J. Burnett with neophytes Jesus Montero and Austin Romine.
So, he went with Martin, and it’s not a stretch to say Martin was the difference in the 3-2 win. Multiple times with a runner on third Martin blocked a Burnett breaking ball in the dirt to save several runs.
“He is a blocking machine,” Girardi said of Martin. “A lot of times people don’t keep stats [on blocks]. Those things go unnoticed.”
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Going into last night’s game against the Mariners, Yankees pitchers held hitters to a .204 (21-for-103) average with runners in scoring position. During that stretch the Yankees were 7-4.
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Derek Jeter, who went 1-for-5 in the Yankees’ 2-1, 12-inning loss to the Mariners last night, has a 14-game hitting streak in which the leadoff hitter was batting .309 (17-for-55). With 3,076 hits, Jeter is five short of Cap Anson, who is in 19th place on the all-time list and 34 shy of Dave Winfield in 18th place.
Jeter also reached 150 hits for 16 straight seasons. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Hank Aaron (17) and Pete Rose (16) are the only two other players in major league history who have had 150 or more hits in 16 consecutive seasons.