Alex Rodriguez said yesterday he will meet with Major League Baseball on Friday in Baltimore about his high stakes poker-playing habits.
The Yankees open a five-game series with the Orioles that day. Rodriguez said he would speak to reporters about the meeting afterward, cracking, “Can’t wait.”
A-Rod, who missed last night’s game against the A’s with a sprained left thumb, said several days ago that the initial poker report “was inaccurate and unfair.”
It is widely believed he won’t be suspended by MLB.
* After yesterday’s earthquake, the Yankees had Thornton Tomasetti, the company that structurally engineered Yankee Stadium, do a building inspection. Thornton Tomasetti provided assurance that the stadium was fine but will also write an inspection report.
Girardi was at Yankee Stadium working out when the earthquake occurred.
“I didn’t feel anything,” he said. “Fortunately I’ve never really felt an earthquake and I don’t really want to.”
Nick Swisher and David Robertson, who both live in Manhattan, each felt the earthquake.
Swisher called it “weird,” saying, “I was wondering why things were moving in my living room. . . . I like things to kind of stand still.”
* Jorge Posada got the start at DH against righty Brandon McCarthy and went 2-for-4 with a double and ninth-inning homer. Since he lost his regular DH job on Aug. 7, Posada is 8-for-17 (.471) in six games.
* LHP Aaron Laffey and C Gustavo Molina cleared waivers and were sent to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. . . . Derek Jeter racked up three more hits, moving his average to .295 and giving him 3,053 career hits, tied with Rod Carew for 22nd all-time. Jeter is also three games away from matching Mickey Mantle for the most games played in Yankee history. Mantle’s record is 2,401.
With A-Rod out last night, Eric Chavez replaced him at third base. Facing his former team, Chavez entered the game in a 3-for-28 funk with 10 strikeouts over his last eight games but went 2-for-4 with two singles.
— Additional reporting by Brian Lewis