ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — In the blink of an eye the Yankees are going to have to be at the top of their game. That means Alex Rodriguez better find his batting eye.
Rodriguez looked out of sync at the plate again last night as the Yankees kept the Rays’ wild-card dreams alive, losing 5-3 at the Trop. The Yankees blew a 3-2 lead in the seventh when the lost reliever, Rafael Soriano, coughed up a three-run home run to Matt Joyce.
This also was the night Russell Martin grounded into a 5-4-3 triple play in the top of the sixth, shutting down a Yankees rally.
These games don’t mean a thing to the Yankees, but the performances do. The Yankees need to be at the top of their game in just a few days and right now Rodriguez is missing in action at the plate.
Before the game, he told the Post that everything is fine. “It’s just a matter of timing,” said Rodriguez, who was not available after the game.
Rodriguez was 0-for-2 with a couple of strikeouts and a couple of walks. One of those walks was nearly another strikeout, but a close pitch from young Jeremy Hellickson was called ball four. That came after an intentional walk to Robinson Cano, who is batting third. That tells you all you need to know about what Rays manager Joe Maddon thinks of the way Rodriguez is swinging going into the postseason.
The top of the Yankees lineup is going to read like this for the postseason: Derek Jeter, Curtis Granderson, Cano, Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira. The Yankees need Rodriguez to have a big October — not as big as 2009 — that would be too much to ask, but he needs to produce.
Rodriguez has four hits in his last 29 at-bats (.138). He was pulled from the last night’s by Joe Girardi in the eighth. Earlier, A-Rod was not running the bases well. If there is any kind of injury, the Yankees and Rodriguez are not talking about it.
In so many ways this has been a lost season for Rodriguez. He is hitting .276 with 16 home runs and 62 RBI in 99 games. All this from a player who has three MVP awards.
A-Rod has struggled with injuries this season. He underwent knee surgery and also has had a sprained left thumb.
Asked about Rodriguez’s swing after the game, Girardi said, “He’s OK.”
Rodriguez said his problems were just a matter of timing. Well, if A-Rod isn’t at the top of his game heading into the playoffs, his timing could not be worse.
Perhaps the postseason will wake up his sleeping bat. “Friday will be what we play for,” Girardi said.
The Yankees are going to have to score a lot of runs to make it through the postseason and their No. 4 hitter must be a major contributor. If opposing managers are already walking Cano to get to A-Rod that tells you there is a major problem with the way Rodriguez is swinging.
So it goes. The A-Rod situation is just one of several issues the Yankees have going into the postseason. Even though they won the AL East going away, and have the best record in the league this season, they have pressing issues and decisions to make on this last day of the regular season.
In 2009 Rodriguez hit .455 in the first round of the playoffs and .429 in the ALCS. Last year in the ALCS he was a bust against the Rangers, batting .190 with no home runs and only two RBIs.
Noted one scout at last night’s game, “A-Rod doesn’t seem to have any explosion in his swing. Just imagine where the Yankees would be if Curtis Granderson didn’t have the year he had.”
Granderson has been a monster this year with 41 home runs. A-Rod has not been anything close to that.
If A-Rod’s timing doesn’t come around, opposing managers will walk Cano and the clock will strike midnight on the Yankees’ October.