Friday, October 12, 2012

Surprising Change In The Yankees' Lineup

Surprising Change In The Yankees' Lineup, With the season on the line, N.Y. manager Joe Girardi makes a gutsy decision. Alex Rodriguez benched for ALDS Game 5, Cue those "A-Benched!" headlines again because Alex Rodriguez is not in the New York Yankees starting lineup for Friday's ALDS Game 5 against the Baltimore Orioles.

Are you happy now, Donald Trump?
A-Rod will be replaced by Eric Chavez at third and he won't be the designated hitter because Game 3 hero Raul Ibanez is starting in that spot. Robinson Cano bats from the No. 3 spot, one night after Mark Teixeira displaced A-Rod from that position.

Joe Girardi told reporters that A-Rod is not injured and that the benching was strictly performance based. Orioles starter Jason Hammel is a righty and A-Rod has not performed well against righthanders all season.

"As I've talked about a little bit, it has been a struggle against the right-handers," Girardi told reporters. "(Chavez) has been a guy that we've played against a lot of right-handers and has been pretty successful, so it's a tough decision - there's no doubt about it, because of what he's meant to our club. But I just thought with the struggles that he's had, I'm going to go with Chavy. He said he's ready to help when he needs to help, and let's win today."

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