TORONTO -- Alex Rodriguez is back in the Yankees' lineup today and will be batting fifth the game against the Blue Jays in Rogers Centre (It's on YES at 1 p.m.). A-Rod has missed the last six games with a sprained thumb and has only played 10 games since the all-star break. But he had a good day Friday and manager Joe Girardi gave him the go-ahead this morning.
“We don’t know what version we’re going to get,” Girardi said. “We might get the version we had at the beginning of the season when he was healthy. If that version is in there, that’s really good.”
A-Rod is batting fifth for the first time since 2006. Robinson Cano is staying in the cleanup spot.
“It’s more that he’s just missed time,” Girardi said. “Really, he hasn’t played much in the last two months, so I figured we’ll just keep Robbie there for right now, and if Alex gets going, we can adjust our lineup as we see needed.”
Ex-Bison Bartolo Colon is pitching for the Yankees against Toronto rookie Henderson Alvarez, who has never faced the Yankees. Rookie Austin Romine is catching Colon in part because he batted against Alvarez this year in Double-A.
The roof is open on a cloudy, chilly day. I'm a little surprised by that. The Yankees are an MLB-best 39-11 in days games. The Yankees are 3-5 on their current road trip and Friday's 5-4 loss here was their fourth walkoff defeat of the trip.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
