NEW YORK (AP) -Alex Rodriguez missed his first game of the season Thursday and an MRI exam on his strained left hamstring came back normal.
Rodriguez sat out of the New York Yankees’ 7-6 victory over the Minnesota Twins, but manager Joe Torre said he could be back in the lineup Friday against the Los Angeles Angels.
“That’s what I’m assuming is going to happen,” Torre said.
Rodriguez tripped over Twins first baseman Justin Morneau’s ankle Monday night while beating out a potential double play. The All-Star third baseman advanced to second before leaving the game.
“Day by day, we’ll see,” general manager Brian Cashman said before Thursday’s game.
Rodriguez played third base Tuesday and was the designated hitter Wednesday. He went 0-for-4 both days and said after Wednesday’s 6-2 loss to Minnesota that his hamstring didn’t feel any better or worse.
“He was a little uncomfortable yesterday,” Torre said. “I don’t think it’s anything more than it was, but probably a couple of days playing on it exposed it a little bit more. We still don’t think that it’s anything that’s going to require anything more than maybe a day or so off.”
The Yankees beat the Twins in the afternoon Thursday and open a three-game series against the Angels on Friday night, giving Rodriguez extra time to heal.
Miguel Cairo replaced the two-time MVP at third base against the Twins and designated hitter Hideki Matsui was in the cleanup spot. Matsui hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth.
Rodriguez, in a season-worst 0-for-19 skid, leads the majors with 28 homers and 80 RBIs. He topped fan voting for Tuesday’s All-Star game in San Francisco with 3.89 million votes, but said Wednesday he could skip the game to rest his hamstring.
“I’m hoping, obviously, he can play,” said Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who’s in charge of the AL All-Star team. “But if he can’t play, he can’t play. I was worried about it the other night when I saw it on TV.”
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AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in Detroit contributed to this report.
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