After injuries to his right knee and left thumb hobbled him down the stretch, Alex Rodriguez has started this ALDS 0 for 8. His only trip on base was a first-inning walk issued by Max Scherzer in Game 2.

A-Rod’s woes climaxed in the eighth inning Sunday. Fans showered the third baseman with boos after he popped out to second against Joaquin Benoit.

Rodriguez acknowledged the jeers but said they were “no big deal.”

“There’s no need to even get emotional,” he said. “Again, it’s one pitch at a time. One big hit can change this whole series around. You really have to stay in the moment. Like Phil Jackson, you have to go into a little bit of a zen mode.”

Rodriguez was on deck with two on and two out in the ninth when Robinson Cano —representing the winning run — grounded out to second to end the game. If he had an opportunity, Rodriguez would’ve no doubt had his zen challenged by a steady diet of fastballs from Jose Valverde. The Tigers have attacked A-Rod repeatedly to see whether or not he can respond. Through two games, he hasn’t.

“He’s a tick late on them,” hitting coach Kevin Long said. “We’ll talk about that, about being a little more ready for fastballs. I would certainly expect more fastballs, but that’s OK. We want him to see fastballs.”

Long and Rodriguez thought Sunday’s at-bats were a step down from those on Saturday, when Rodriguez was called out for strikes on a questionable call and ripped a deep drive to center that fell a little short of a home run.

Rodriguez would not point to his surgically-repaired right knee or injured left thumb as a problem, although he hasn’t been the same since he returned Aug. 21. A-Rod is just 13 for 76 with five extra-base hits and 10 RBI in the subsequent 21 games. He missed 19 others resting the injuries.

“This time of year, nobody wants to hear ‘banged up,’” he said. “You just basically have to take it one pitch at a time and try to win.”

Long said Rodriguez has already made an impact by forcing the Tigers to pitch to Cano, who tied a club postseason record with six RBI in Game 1. But Rodriguez expects he’ll have opportunities to turn the series directly before it’s over. That could be as soon as tonight against Detroit ace Justin Verlander.

“There’s no question,” he said. “I’m assuming over the next day or two or three there’s going to be some big at-bats that I’ll be ready for. Two outs, men in scoring position. That’s something I relish.”

Long thought it was too soon for fans to boo the Yankees’ 2009 postseason hero.

“If we want to beat him up over two games, certainly people have the right to do that,” Long said. “I just don’t think it’s fair.”

Well, that was much ado about nothing. After telling the media at his pregame press conference that he would have an announcement regarding the Yankees rotation after today’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, manager Joe Girardi dropped the bombshell.

He’s staying with a six-man rotation.

“We’re going to go another time through,” Girardi said. “I’m allowed to change my mind; that’s why I don’t make instant decisions… We want to see it again. We liked what we saw from our guys.”

Girardi is referring to the starts from Phil Hughes and A.J. Burnett this past week in Boston. Neither was overly impressive — Hughes allowed six earned runs, while Burnett couldn’t even make it out of the sixth inning — but he felt that they showed enough to warrant at least one more go-around.

“We thought some guys made some progress when we went to Boston,” Girardi said. “We just figured that there’s no rush to make that decision… In talking about it with our coaches and Cash, we just said, ‘Let’s go through it again and see what happens.’ ”

I’m sure many of you are getting tired of the same old debate, which keeps leading to the same old solution. But I wouldn’t be surprised if a decision never gets made. With only 24 games remaining, Girardi was asked if the rotation could possibly remain six deep until the end of the season.

“I’m not going to say no,” he replied.

He seemed to be very encouraged by Burnett’s most recent start. Despite having only one win since June 29, Girardi thinks he’s getting back on track.

“I loved what I saw from AJ in Boston,” he said. “What makes it even more incredible to me is, here’s a guy who’s fighting for a spot. There’s been discussions that he might come out of the rotation, he had a tough August, and he said, ‘You know what? I’m going to try new mechanics for the first time against the Boston Red Sox.’ That takes a lot of guts. He went out and did it, and threw a really good game for us, which makes me really curious. If you give him another few times with it, does it get even better?”

Whether it gets better remains to be seen. But this much is certain: After Freddy Garcia’s start against Baltimore tomorrow, Hughes will start on Tuesday, followed by Burnett on Wednesday.

We know they’re safe for at least one more episode of, “As the Rotation Turns.”

Here’s some more notes from the Yankees 9-3 win over the Blue Jays:

• For those who are concerned with CC Sabathia’s workload, it’s worth noting that he got stronger as the game went on. He put some runners on early, but didn’t allow it to get out of hand. By the end of the fourth inning, he began to cruise. He retired 10 straight batters, picking up his 19th win while striking out 10. He now sits just two strikeouts away from 2,000 for his career. “I feel strong; I feel good,” Sabathia said. “The ball is coming out of my hand good, and my arm feels good… I felt I had good command. I threw the ball where I wanted to.”

• I have to admit, I made a rookie mistake. I recorded the entire interview with Derek Jeter, who tied a career-high with five RBI, but I accidentally deleted it while trying to record A-Rod. An amateur move, but you live and you learn. I do remember Jeter stating that the fact that he pulled his third-inning home run off of Brett Cecil meant nothing. He simply feels good, and has been staying back on the ball since his return from the DL. One reporter pointed out that he has a .371 batting average this season after a day off, and he seemed to take exception to that. Then, when asked what’s been the biggest key to his recent success, he remarked (with a smile), “Day’s off.”

• Alex Rodriguez and Nick Swisher also homered for the Yanks. It was clear when A-Rod hit his that he wasn’t happy, but the ball still got out over the right field wall. “It was a fly ball to right,” Rodriguez said. “I got very lucky that ball sailed over the fence. I couldn’t believe that.”

• Rookie Jesus Montero picked up his first career multi-hit game, just one day after notching his first career hit. Both hits were singles through the left side, but his second was a hard hit liner. “The first base hit for every hitter in the big leagues is always a little tough,” Montero said. “You have it on your mind. After that, I was like, ‘Okay, finally.’ Today I felt more comfortable at the plate.”

• I was surprised to see CC come out for the eighth inning after her had reached 107 pitches in the seventh. He threw 128 in his last start, and Girardi said that if not for that, he would have let him go even further. “That was the reason that I didn’t let him continue,” Girardi said. “I probably would have let him throw to a couple more hitters.”

• Interesting stat here: Jose Bautista, a leading MVP candidate in the AL, is 0-for-18 in his career against Sabathia. “Somebody  tell me how to get (Marco) Scutaro out, and I’ll tell you why he’s 0-for-18. It’s just one of those things.”

• With as well as the Yankees have been playing, Girardi says he plays to rest at least one regular everyday moving forward. Today, it was Curtis Granderson.

• With the Red Sox’ 11-4 loss to Texas, the Yankees are now 1 1/2 games ahead in the AL East. They’ve won four straight, and seven of eight. They are a season-high 32 games over .500.

It was a fun first day! Thanks for all of the support, and to all of my new Twitter followers! I’ll be back tomorrow…

CC Sabathia moved to within two strikeouts of 2,000 for his career on Sunday, picking up his 19th win while striking out 10 over 7.1 innings in the 9-3 victory. He worked in and out of trouble early, before hitting his stride after the fourth inning. Derek Jeter hit a three-run homer in the third (his fifth of the season), Alex Rodriguez added a solo shot in the sixth (his 15th of the year) and Nick Swisher hit the longest Yankee home run of the day with his two-run shot in the eighth (his 22nd). Jeter also had a two-run single in the eighth, tying his career high with five RBI. Rookie Jesus Montero had his first multi-hit game after picking up his first career hit on Saturday. With Boston losing 9-0 to Texas, the Yanks are in line to extend their lead in the division to 1 1/2 games.

Associated Press photo

YANKEES (84-53)
Brett Gardner CF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C
Jesus Montero DH

LHP CC Sabathia (18-7, 2.99)
CC vs. Blue Jays

BLUE JAYS (69-70)
Mike McCoy SS
Kelly Johnson 2B
Jose Bautista RF
Edwin Encarnacion 1B
Brett Lawrie 3B
Mark Teahen LF
Jose Molina DH
J.P. Arencibia C
Dewayne Wise CF

LHP Brett Cecil (4-7, 4.51)
Cecil vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 1:05 p.m., YES Network

WEATHER: It’s 84 and pretty humid here in the Bronx. There’s a 20 percent chance of rain, but the skies look pretty clear.

UMPIRES: HP Tom Hallion, 1B Bill Miller, 2B James Hoye, 3B Phil Cuzzi

KEEP ON ROLLIN’: After clinching the series with yesterday’s win, the Yankees have now gone 17-3-4 in series play since June 10, including a 10-1-1 mark at home.

CC APPROACHING MILESTONE: While it would take quite the performance to get it done today, Sabathia is sitting 12 strikeouts away from reaching 2,000 for his career. He will become one of only three active pitchers to have reached that total (with Tim Wakefield and Javier Vasquez).

RED HOT JONES: Since the All-Star break, Andruw Jones is hitting .328 (21-for-64). He’s playing left field today, and seems to have locked down a start every time the Yanks go up against a lefty. I haven’t heard anyone mention Marcus Thames’ name in quite some time…

UPDATE, 1:19PM: With runners on the corners and two outs, CC gets Lawrie to ground out to third. He also picked up two K’s in the inning, so maybe that milestone isn’t as out of reach as I originally thought.

UPDATE, 1:28PM: After a walk and a steal from Brett Gardner, a throwing error from SS Mike McCoy on Mark Teixeira’s grounder leads to the Yanks first run.

UPDATE, 1:32PM: More sloppy play from Toronto. 2B Kelly Johnson drops grounder from Robbie Cano, but recovers just in time to get him on the throw. Inning over. 1-0 Yanks.

UPDATE, 1:36PM: Hard hit single from Mark Teahen takes a high bounce and gets past Gardner in CF, allowing Teahen to advance to second. Single, E8. CC has been giving up a lot of hits recently. That’s the third in six batters. Already at 30 pitches and he hasn’t even recorded an out in the second inning.

UPDATE, 1:44PM: CC strikes out Dewayne Wise to end the inning with Teahen on second. Three K’s and counting for the big man…

UPDATE, 1:50PM: Very nice diving play to his left by Toronto 3B Brett Lawrie. Russell Martin smoked a liner that looked like it was going to get through, but Lawrie lunged to make the play and end the inning. Yanks go down 1-2-3.

UPDATE, 1:58PM: CC has his first 1-2-3 inning in the third. Picked up one more strikeout. We’re up to four now.

UPDATE, 2:00PM: Montero pulls a single past a diving McCoy. Major league hit No. 2 in the books.

UPDATE, 2:05PM: Captain Jeter puts one out in left field with Montero and Gardner on-base. That three-run blast makes it 4-0 Yanks. That was no cheapie, either.

UPDATE, 2:15PM: Teahen drives in a run with his second hit of the game — a double down the left field line. Hit, walk, hit and CC has given up a run with no outs and runners on 2nd and 3rd. 4-1 Yanks.

UPDATE, 2:19PM: CC gives up two runs, but limits the damage by sitting down the next three batters after allowing the first three to reach safely. Ended the inning with a strikeout of Wise. Through four innings, CC has allowed two earned runs on five hits and a walk, while striking out five.

UPDATE, 2:25PM: Yanks go down in order in the fourth. Montero will lead off in the bottom of the fifth.

UPDATE, 2:29PM: Nice play by Cano, ranging to his left and making the stab on a hard hit ball from Johnson. At first it looked like that ball was getting through. 1-2-3 inning for CC. Up to six strikeouts.

UPDATE, 2:33PM: Montero laces a line-drive single between the SS and 3B. Looks like Girardi was onto something when he said his first hit yesterday would relax him moving forward. Now he has his first multi-hit game.

UPDATE, 2:45PM: Well, CC is rolling now. He’s retired nine straight since giving up the RBI double to Teahen. He also has at least one strikeout in every inning. He’s up to eight now through six innings. He’s thrown 91 pitches, so I’d expect to see him back out for the seventh.

UPDATE, 2:47PM: A-Rod jacks one out opposite field to make it 5-2 Yanks. On the replay, you can see him cursing himself right after he made contact. He clearly didn’t get all of that, but that’s a good sign that he can push one out to the opposite field without hitting his sweet spot.

UPDATE, 3:04PM: After retiring ten straight (including his ninth strikeout of the game against Jose Molina to begin the seventh), CC finally gave up a hit to J.P. Arencibia. He followed that by promptly sitting down the next two batters. He’s probably done with 107 pitches after throwing so many in his last outing.

UPDATE, 3:10PM: No third hit for Montero. He reaches safely, but it’s ruled an error on the third baseman Lawrie. He’s done for the day, with Eduardo Nunez coming in to pinch run.

UPDATE, 3:22PM: CC is back out for the eighth, despite his relatively high pitch count. I guessed wrong on that one, but Girardi comes out to get him after he struck out the one batter he faced. CC’s final line: 7.1 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 2 ER, 10 K, 111 pitches. He’s two K’s away from 2,000. Here comes Rafael Soriano.

UPDATE, 3:27PM: Jose Bautista promptly greets Soriano with an absolute moon shot to left. Give me your thoughts: Where do you rank Bautista among MVP candidates? His numbers are clearly the best, but it comes down to that old where does your team finish in the standings argument.

UPDATE, 3:42PM: Nick Swisher just deposited a ball in the right field seats for a two-run shot off of Jon Rauch. That one went a long way. It’s 7-3 Yanks in the eighth.

UPDATE, 3:51PM: Yankees continue to tack on runs here in the eighth. Two-out, two-run single from Jeter with the bases loaded makes it 9-3. That’s five RBI for Captain Clutch, tying a career high (fourth time he’s done it). That will save Mariano for another day. Cory Wade is in to pitch the ninth.

UPDATE, 4:01PM: Ballgame over, Yankees win. I’ll be back later with game notes. Follow me on Twitter @vzmercogliano for an update as soon as Girardi announces the rotation decision.

The biggest story to come out of Joe Girardi’s press conference this morning had nothing to do with today’s game. Girardi told the media that a decision has been made on which of the Yankees’ six starters will be pulled from the rotation, but he won’t make the announcement until after today’s series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays.

“I’ll probably have it for you after the game,” Girardi said. “I just have to make sure that I tell everyone involved.”

While anything can happen, the expectation is that the decision will come down to pulling either A.J. Burnett or Phil Hughes from the rotation. The odd man out will head to the bullpen.

CC Sabathia obviously isn’t going anywhere, and Freddy Garcia has arguably been the Yankees second most consistent starter. Bartolo Colon has rebounded nicely from a bit of a rough patch, and Ivan Nova currently has the longest winning streak in the majors. Those four appear to be safe.

Burnett has been brutal over the majority of the past two months, but he did have a solid start against the Red Sox on Thursday. Hughes didn’t fare as well against Boston on Wednesday, but he’s shown glimpses of returning to form since coming off the DL. We all know about Burnett’s big contract, but we also know that Hughes is supposed to be a big part of the Yankees future. So, who would you pull?

My quick two cents: I’ve heard many people make the argument that Hughes has more bullpen experience, so it makes more sense to move him out of the rotation. It’s true that Hughes was stellar out of the pen in 2009, but that was as the Yankees set-up man. With David Robertson, Rafael Soriano, Boone Logan, Cory Wade, etc. in front of Mariano Rivera, those opportunities likely wouldn’t be there for Hughes. The bullpen is a strength on this team right now, so whoever gets moved out of the rotation will likely be delegated to mop up duty. It’s not as if either of these guys is going to be moved into a crucial role.

Maybe I’m a little nervous from the whole Joba situation, but it just doesn’t make much sense to me to bounce a player back and forth who you believe has a chance to be a mainstay in the rotation. Yes, Burnett has two years remaining on his contract, but Hughes is still just 25 years old. He’s had some odd issues this season, but it could be extremely beneficial to get him back on track. Burnett has already ensured that he won’t be a Yankee past 2013 — if not sooner.

I guess we’ll find out how the Yankees feel in a few hours.

Here’s some more notes from Girardi’s press conference:

• Mark Teixeira will return to the lineup after missing the past two games with a bruised right knee. He will bat third and play first. “He came in today and said, ‘I’m good to go,’ ” Girardi said. “I didn’t even ask him. He came and said, ‘I’m good to go’ before I had a chance to ask him. I said, ‘Playing first?’ and he said, ‘Yeah.’ ”

• Girardi on what it means to have Tex back: “He’s got so much experience over there, and every play you know he’s going to be in the right spot. Swish does a great job in his absence… It’s good to see him get dirty, and he enjoys playing there every once in awhile.”

• Curtis Granderson is not playing today, but it’s just a normal day off. Brett Gardner will play center field, with Andruw Jones playing left against the left-handed Brett Cecil.

• Jesus Montero will DH and bat ninth. Girardi had him hitting seventh in his first two games. Robinson Cano mentioned that he expects Montero to be more relaxed after picking up his first big league hit yesterday, and Girardi concurred. “I think he’s made some pretty good in-game adjustments,” Girardi said. “After looking poor on the curveball from (Ricky) Romero, in his last at-bat that’s (the pitch) he hit… I thought he had an idea of what he wanted to do up there, and that’s a good sign. You would hope that he would relax, because I think everyone is always anxious to get that first hit. You can throw all of the other things out, just coming up as a rookie, it’s hard to relax. You want to impress everyone and prove that you belong.”

• Girardi says that CC will have no restrictions today, despite throwing 128 pitches (the most he’s ever thrown as a Yankee) in his last start. “He’s done that a number of times in his career,” Girardi said. “We’ll watch him carefully, but we watch him carefully anyway because of what time of year it is. We wanted him to go on his fifth day, and he wanted to go on his fifth day. He said he felt good, and he had a great bullpen the other day.”

• The Yankees will look to remain in first-place and complete a sweep of the Blue Jays today. They currently sit 1/2 game ahead of Boston in the standings. The Yankees record in day games is the best in the majors (36-9), and Girardi had an interesting take on why he thought that is the case. “If I had to guess, and it’s hard to put your finger on it, but sometimes with an older club, families get you up earlier, and it’s not such a long day. I know when I became a parent, I loved day games.”

Here’s the Yankee lineup that will face Toronto Blue Jays left-hander Brett Cecil today. CC Sabathia will start for the Yanks:

Brett Gardner CF
Derek Jeter SS
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Andruw Jones LF
Russell Martin C
Jesus Montero DH

Hey Yankee fans! Vincent Mercogliano here for the next two days in place of Chad. This is my first experience covering a Yankee game, and so far it looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day to be at The Stadium.

I’ll be posting frequently, starting today’s lineup in about a half hour, but I wanted to take this quick opportunity to introduce myself. As a sports reporter for the Journal News and a sports talk radio host, I am completely immersed in all things New York sports. There’s no team that I follow more closely than the Yankees, so I’m thrilled to be here for the next two days.

For an up-to-the-minute account of my first full day experience with the Yankees, follow me on Twitter @vzmercogliano. I’ll post the lineup first there, before making my way back up to the press box and putting it up on the blog.

It’s rare that players and managers get too excited about a stat or a fact, but even the Yankees had to admit today’s three-grand-slam afternoon was pretty special.

As you know, the Yanks hit three grand slams in the same game today for the first time in baseball history. In fact, after Russell Martin hit his grand slam in the sixth, it marked just the fourth time in franchise history two Yankees hit grand slams in the same game and the first time ever at home.

“It’s pretty amazing when you look up and see the runs you have on the board and what you put up in the last four innings of the game,” Girardi said. “I know our offense is potent, but that even surprises me.”

The first came with the deficit still 7-2 off the bat of Robinson Cano. He pulled an offering from the tiring Rich Harden into the right field seats with one out in the fifth to cut the deficit to 7-6. After the Yankees stranded the bases loaded in to end the inning, Martin hit a one-out wall-scraper to right for his second home run of the game. It provided the Yankees with a 10-7 lead and they never trailed again.

He didn’t know it at the time, but Curtis Granderson went on to make history in the bottom of the eighth. He slugged the third grand slam off Bruce Billings and into the bullpen in right to make the score 21-8. The home run was Granderson’s 36th and pushed him over 100 RBI for the first time in his career.

“The fact that we as a team have done something that all the teams that have played this game have never done before, especially on the offensive side, that’s pretty neat,” Granderson said. “The guys on this team have been doing an amazing job. I think it speaks again to what this offense can do. Anyone and everyone can deliver at any time.”

Even before Granderson’s shot, Cano and Martin were only the second set of Yankees to hit grand slams in back to back innings. The others were the last set of teammates to hit them in the same game at all: Bernie Williams and Paul O’Neil, who hit theirs at Toronto on Sept. 14, 1999. The other double grand-slam games were turned in by Tony Lazzeri, who hit a pair on May 24, 1936 in Philadelphia, and Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly on June 29, 1987 in Toronto.

Ironically, both Cano and Martin batted in the seventh with the bases loaded. Cano hit a sac fly and Martin lined an RBI single to right. Those were two of 17 plate appearances the Yankees had today with the bases loaded.

• Of course, Martin played part in Yankee history. He also happened to have the best game of his career in the process.

On the day, Martin went 5 for 5 with the two home runs, a double, a walk and a career-high six RBI. The five hits were also a career high. They were the most hits by a Yankee catcher since Elston Howard went 5 for 6 on Apr. 18, 1959 at Boston. It was also just the sixth time in the live ball era that a catcher had five hits and six RBI in a single game, although Joe Mauer accomplished it on July 26 of last year.

This was also the fourth multi-homer game this season for Martin in just 101 games. Martin had just one multi-homer game in 667 games with the Dodgers.

“I feel pretty good right now,” Martin said. “I have no issues right now, which is pretty rare for this point in the season.”

• Derek Jeter saw his average climb over .300 on an infield single to shortstop in the sixth. It was the first time for Jeter since Apr. 2 — the second day of the season.

Jeter finished the game 3 for 6 with a walk and now sits at .299. He’s batting .422 in August, raising his average from .268.

He also moved further up two lists in the first. His leadoff triple moved him past Rickey Henderson and into sole possession of 21st place on the all-time hits list. He now has 3,058. Jeter later scored on a Mark Teixeira ground out and moved past Jimmy Foxx into 20th place all-time in runs scored. He finished the game with 1,753 in his career.

• Alex Rodriguez (jammed thumb) returned to the lineup for the first time since Sunday and only the second time since July 7. He went 2 for 4 with two walks and three runs scored, and picked up his first hit since July 6. He also played seven innings at third base and left only because the game was out of reach.

“The first time around there’s always a fear that you’re going to get hurt or something’s going to break,” Rodriguez said. “But once you overcome that after the first at-bat or two, I felt like a normal regular season game.”

• The Yankee offense batted around in the fifth, sixth and seventh, sending 31 men to the plate and scoring 14 runs in the process. A’s pitchers allowed 23 of 31 hitters to reach base during that span. They issued 12 walks. Seven came in the bottom of the seventh alone, including bases-loaded walks to Jeter and Teixeira.

The 13 walks issued by the A’s were the most in a nine-inning game since Sept. 1, 1995. Their relievers walked 12, the most for an A’s bullpen since 1959.

• The Yankee comeback erased a bad performance for Phil Hughes, whose four-start streak of allowing two earned runs or less was snapped. Hughes struck out five and walked none, but the A’s hit him hard when they connected. The right-hander surrendered six earned runs on seven hits and was lifted with two outs in the third.

“It was just a grind,” Hughes said. “Unfortunately, I made a lot of bad pitches. Command was my biggest issue. But it makes it easier when you score 22 runs. It helps you sleep a little easier tonight.”

Hughes’ ERA increased from 5.75 to 6.46. Facing the A’s certainly hasn’t helped. He has allowed 13 ER in 7 IP against Oakland this season.

“It was a disappointing bump in the road,” he said. “I felt like I had really gotten a little roll going. I’ll work hard to get over this one, and hopefully not face the A’s again.

• The Yankee bullpen allowed three runs in 6.1 innings of relief. Boone Logan pitched 1.1 perfect innings and struck out all four batters he faced.

• Last but not least, Jorge Posada played second base in the ninth inning. This was the first time in his major league career he played second, the position he first played in the minor leagues. Posada had not played second since 1991, when he played 64 games there for Class A Oneonta.

Posada had an assist on the last out of the game, thanks largely to Nick Swisher’s scoop of a throw in the dirt. Swisher joked about the throw. “I was thinking to myself, you were standing 15 feet from me. What are you double cro-hopping for?”

“That tells you right there why they moved me behind the plate,” Posada said.

Girardi was originally going to move Martin to second and put Francisco Cervelli behind the plate, but Posada made a deal with him with the Yankees ahead 16-8 at the time.

“He said if we get two more runs, I’m going out there. I have him badgering me. I have K-Long badgering me,” Girardi said. “But I think with everything that Jorge has done for this organization, the numbers that he’s put up and the year that he’s been through this year, it was just hard to say no.

YANKEES (77-50)
Derek Jeter DH
Curtis Granderson CF
Mark Teixeira 1B
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Robinson Cano 2B
Nick Swisher RF
Russell Martin C
Eduardo Nunez SS
Brett Gardner LF

RHP Phil Hughes (4-4, 5.75)
Hughes vs. A’s

A’S (59-70)
Jemile Weeks 2B
Coco Crisp CG
Hideki Matsui DH
Josh Willingham LF
Brandon Allen 1B
David DeJesus RF
Cliff Pennington SS
Anthony Recker C
Scott Sizemore 3B

RHP Rich Harden (4-2, 3.91)
Harden vs. Yankees

TIME/TV: 1:05 p.m., YES Network / MLB Network

WEATHER: Not good. Rain has fallen for the better part of the morning. The tarp was still on the field at 1. There’s a 50 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms the rest of the day.

UMPIRES: HP Adrian Johnson, 1B Fieldin Culbreth, 2B Gary Cederstrom (crew chief), 3B Cory Blaser

RAIN MEN: The Yankees had 16 games affected by weather this season, so make this 17. Six of the games have been postponed. This is the 11th with a delay. … The total includes a win on July 18th when the lights went out due to lightning in St. Pete.

PITCHING WONDERPHIL: Phil Hughes has limited opponents to two ER or less in each of his last four starts. He has a 3-1 record and 1.75 ERA during that stretch. Opponents have batted .198 (18 for 91).

SOUTHPAWS ON THE MEND: This just in from the Yankees: Pedro Feliciano (left rotator cuff strain) and Damaso Marte (left shoulder labrum inflammation) each began a rehab assignment today with the GCL Yankees in Tampa vs. the GCL Tigers.

Marte’s did not go well…

Feliciano: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 13 pitches
Marte: 0.2IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 22 pitches

Update, 1:17 p.m.: The tarp remains on the field, although rain has lightened. There has been no announcement about when the game will begin.

Update, 1:25 p.m.: Still raining, and harder now…

Update, 1:54 p.m.: The game is tentatively scheduled to start at 2:30. Looks like they are about to take the tarp off the field.

Update, 2:17 p.m.: They’re going through typical pregame ceremonies here at the Stadium. Rain is still falling, but it’s nothing major. Some fans have umbrellas, but most don’t. That’s a pretty good indication that we’re ready to play.

Update, 2:24 p.m.: Alex Rodriguez is on the field warming up at the moment. His left thumb appears to be taped.

Update, 2:28 p.m.: A-Rod announced in the lineup. Looks like he is ready to give it a go.

Update, 2:30 p.m.: Yanks take the field. Looks like they will start the game.

Update, 2:34 p.m.: First pitch, and we’re underway. Delay lasted 1:29.

Update, 2:52 p.m.: With his leadoff triple, Derek Jeter just passed Rickey Henderson and is now in sole possession of 21st place on MLB’s all-time hits list with 3,056 hits.

Update, 3:06 p.m.: Hughes’ streak of starts with allowing two ER or less is in jeopardy. A’s hitting him hard this inning, an now lead 2-1.

It is also raining again.

Update, 3:25 p.m.: Yanks had the bases loaded with one out but didn’t score. Gardner popped up to short and Jeter squibbed one back to Harden.

A’s still lead 2-1 after two innings. We’re not exactly flying through this game either. It’s been 50 minutes for two inning. Hughes has played a big role in that, throwing 54 pitches already. Rain has pretty much stopped for now.

The crew is out raking and quick-drying the mound.

Update, 3:38 p.m.: Hughes has not been good today, and this is now activity in the Yankee pen.

Update, 3:43 p.m.: That’s it for Hughes, who’s lifted after an RBI single by David DeJesus makes it 4-1 A’s. Girardi had the luxury for a quick hook with so much rain on the horizon. Hughes was awful though and it just seemed to be getting worse.

Update, 3:49 p.m.: After Wade served up a three-run homer on his first pitch to Pennington, here’s Hughes’ final line: 2.2 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.

Say this, he pitched significantly better than Demaso Marte today.

Update, 3:59 p.m.: That’s A-Rod’s first hit since July 6. Still, Yankees trail 7-1 after three innings.

Update, 4:08 p.m.: Fans are cheering because the sun is out. But there’s a long way to go here. We’re still in the top of the fourth.

Update, 4:25 p.m.: An Orioles spokesman told the Baltimore Sun there was no chance of the O’s and Yanks playing a doubleheader on Friday. Here’s the report.

Update, 4:43 p.m.: That’s two good swings for A-Rod today. If nothing else, that’s something positive to take out of today.

Of course, the Yanks are one good swing from getting back into the game. And Harden is now up to 90 pitches. Stamina and durability have not been his strong suits.

Update, 4:45 p.m.: I (kind of) just called that grand slam by Cano. Regardless, the Yankees are now right back in the game, trailing just 7-6. And for some reason, Bob Melvin is sticking with Harden. He must really want him to get the win. Not a good move.

Update, 4:49 p.m.: Swisher doubled to knock out Harden. The move came two batters too late by Melvin.

Of course, not if you’re a Yankee fan. They’re now in business with a runner on second and one out against lefty Craig Breslow.

Update, 4:59 p.m.: That half-inning took forever, but it also pulled the Yankees to within one, 7-6. The Captain missed a chance to tie the game or give the team the lead when he bounced out to end the inning. He also missed a chance to go over .300.

Gardner popped out with one out and the bases loaded. He has now stranded six runners today. I thought 3B coach Rob Thomson (no relation) could’ve sent Swisher on Nunez’s single. Thoughts?

Update, 5:33 p.m.: The Yankees have come all the way back from 7-1 down to take a 10-7 lead on the grand slam by Russell Martin. That’s Martin’s fourth multi-homer game this season.

That’s nothing. How ’bout this stat: This is just the fourth time in club history the Yankees have hit two grand slams in the same game. The last time came in 1999 when Bernie Williams and Paul O’Neill. This is also the first time EVER they have hit two grand slams at home. Amazing.

Here are the other instances:
Tony Lazzeri (2) o on 5/24/36 at Philadelphia
Dave Winfield, Don Mattingly on 6/29/87 at Toronto
Bernie Williams, Paul O’Neill on 9/14/99 at Toronto (also consecutive innings)

Update, 5:44 p.m.: Also, with a 3 for 5 day (so far), Jeter is now batting .300.

Update, 6:38 p.m.: Courtesy of Sweeny Murty of WFAN, the Yankees sent 31 men to the play in innings 5-7 and 23 reached base. A’s pitchers issued 12 walks, including seven in the seventh. Absolutely putrid.

Update, 6:51 p.m.: History, folks!

The Yankees just became the first team in MLB history to hit three grand slams in the same game. The third was Curtis Granderson, who joined Robinson Cano and Russell Martin when he yanked his 36th home run into the Yankee bullpen off Bruce Billings. The grand slam gave the Yankees a 21-8 lead.

Update, 6:56 p.m.: The Yankees batted around for the fourth straight inning. Also of note: Jorge Posada just came out to play second base in the ninth.

Update, 7:06 p.m.: Yanks win 22-9, with the last assist coming by second baseman Jorge Posada. Of course it did!

The game lasted 4:31 — only 14-minutes shorter than the longest nine-inning game in MLB history.

During his pregame chat with the press, Joe Girardi said the Yankees and Orioles had initiated talks about playing a doubleheader Friday to squeeze a couple games in before Hurricane Irene sets to ravaging the east coast. Well, it appears those talks went something like this:

Yanks: “Can we play a doubleheader Friday?”
Orioles: “No.” (click)

MLB.com’s Jordan Schelling is reporting that the Orioles won’t budge. That could potentially pin the Yankees’ pitching rotation even firmer against the wall. Girardi said A.J. Burnett and Ivan Nova would start a potential Friday doubleheader. But if the teams indeed play one game and find themselves washed out on Saturday and Sunday, the Yanks will be left with two days off the remainder of the season and three extra games to play. Wow.

Girardi expected the Yankees to know for sure whether they would play two tomorrow by the end of today.

“I don’t know how else you make them up. I don’t know if you make them up at our ballpark. I don’t know if they’re made up in December,” he said.

As for the pitching, “I think we’ll take it day by day and see what we’re going to do,” Girardi said. “It could be a mess so I can’t really tell you. … There’s a ton of scenarios, so we’ll probably just have to take it day by day and be kind of flexible.”

Girardi said he worries about the potential of multiple doubleheaders and an overcrowded scheduled, especially because of the age on his club.

“You don’t want games piled up because fatigue and injuries are a concern,” he said.

• As you already know, Alex Rodriguez is scheduled to return to the lineup today and play third base. I say “scheduled” not just because of the rain.

Girardi said he wrote Rodriguez’s name in the lineup with the assumption he could return, but it will depend on how A-Rod responds to a pregame workout.

“I don’t know yet,” Girardi said. “So I figured it was easier to put the lineup up instead of waiting until noon to put the lineup up after he goes through the drills. If he can’t play, we’ll make adjustments as needed.”

Rodriguez returned Sunday for the first time since July 7 and went 0 for 5. He jammed his thumb fielding a Joe Mauer ground ball during the game. It affected him during BP Tuesday night and he was a late scratch.

• The Yankees heard it was supposed to rain until 2. “After that we should be OK,” Girardi said…of course, he said, other than another shower in that period and more rain at 7. Obviously, it’s not much of a window.

• A.J. Burnett is scheduled to pitch tomorrow night for the first time since his embarrassing start last Saturday, when he allowed seven earned in 1.2 innings in Minnesota. Although the looming string of washouts could save Burnett’s spot in the rotation for now, Girardi insisted the right-hander has to pitch better. Now.

“We need him to pitch well, no doubt about it,” Girardi said. “It’s a big start.”

• After pitching for Scranton on Monday, Freddy Garcia (finger) is scheduled to start during Saturday’s ill-fated doubleheader. But with that appearing unlikely, Girardi said the club won’t activate him until it needs to.

• Girardi didn’t use Mariano Rivera for the 10th inning Wednesday night. Instead, he inserted Rafael Soriano, who promptly served up the eventual game-winning home run to Coco Crisp. Girardi said he would rather not use Rivera for two innings unless it is a postseason situation.

“It seems like when we use him two innings, you really have to be careful for a couple of days,” he said. “I don’t really want to do that. If it’s playoff baseball, we’re talking about a different story. But we are talking about a guy who’s 41 years old and it’s dangerous. This is a guy we can’t afford to lose.”