As his teammates jumped into dress slacks and shirts with buttons for a flight to Pittsburgh late yesterday afternoon, Alex Rodriguez donned jeans, a T-shirt and bolted the Yankees’ clubhouse long before the team bus split for the airport.
Rodriguez, who is at the beginning of what many predict will be a nasty divorce, didn’t accompany the Yankees to Pittsburgh. Instead, he will arrive today for tonight’s makeup game against the Pirates.
“He had to take care of something,” Joe Girardi said of Rodriguez and wouldn’t elaborate further.
Rodriguez went 1-for-4 in the Yankees’ 2-1, 10-inning win over the first-place Rays.
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Hideki Matsui took his lame left knee to Tampa yesterday to continue a path back to the big leagues.
Matsui, who hasn’t played since June 22 because of an inflamed hinge, will hit off a batting tee and soft toss before taking batting practice.
“We are not out of the woods yet,” GM Brian Cashman said of getting his designated hitter back from the DL. “But it’s going in the right direction. That’s all we can hope for because he is a big bat, and he knows how to knock in runs.”
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Jose Molina started behind the plate for the fifth straight game and Jorge Posada was the DH for the fourth time in five games.
Going into yesterday’s Game, Molina’s 23 caught-stealings were the most in the majors, as was his 46.9 percent caught stealing. He had a streak of throwing out 12 consecutive runners stopped Tuesday night, but caught B.J. Upton in the fifth inning yesterday.
Brian Bruney (Lisfranc fracture right foot) made his third rehab appearance, pitching a scoreless inning for the Gulf Coast League Yankees. He will travel to New York to be examined and the pitch for Trenton (Double-A) this weekend.