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New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez has been shut down for at least three days because of a troublesome left thumb that has been hindering him for the past three weeks.
The 36-year-old Rodriguez, two home runs shy of Ken Griffey Jr. for fifth place on the career list, told reporters at his locker before Saturday night's game against the Los Angeles Angels that the injury is preventing him from making any significant offensive contribution.
The Yankees have a 2 1/2-game lead over Boston in the AL East heading into Saturday night.
The 14-time All-Star and three-time AL MVP has been limited to 90 games, much of that because of arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. He is hitting .284 with 15 homers and 56 RBIs. With 19 games left in the schedule after Saturday, this will be the fewest number of games Rodriguez will play in the past 16 seasons. He is in the fourth season of a 10-year, $275 million, contract he signed after opting out of his contract during the 2007 World Series.
Manager Joe Girardi fielded a patchwork lineup, with Eric Chavez filling in for Rodriguez, catcher Russell Martin starting in place of Francisco Cervelli and Eduardo Nunez making his first start in right field while Nick Swisher sat out his second straight game because of a pain in his left elbow.
It was the second straight day in which Cervelli was in Girardi's original lineup - only to be scratched hours before gametime due to concussion-like symptoms stemming from his home plate collision with Nick Markakis in Thursday's loss at Baltimore in a makeup game.
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