A-Rod collects two hits as DH in Triple-A game

MOOSIC, Pa. -- Alex Rodriguez took the night off in the field, but had a busy day as the designated hitter on Friday in his second game with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles in the RailRiders' 2-1 loss to Louisville. He didn't provide a big home run like Thursday night, but Rodriguez had two chances to run the bases as he tries to get back to Major League form.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that the club's best-case scenario is to have Rodriguez playing third base on Monday.

"He's due to DH on Sunday [at Triple-A]. If he gets through the weekend fine, and he responds to the DH fine and flying from Scranton to join us in Texas, all that is fine and he's like, 'I'm ready to go,' [then] he's in there," Cashman said.

Batting second on Friday, Rodriguez grounded out to Louisville shortstop Kris Negron in the first. Despite the grounder's routine nature, Rodriguez looked like his old self and was only out by a half-step at first base.

A-Rod played down his form on the basepaths by joking with the media following the game.

"I promise it wasn't in slow motion," Rodriguez said of his baserunning. "That's how fast I'm running now, a bit slow, but I feel good."

His second at-bat in the fourth inning provided his first hit of the night, as he blooped a single down the right-field line. The base hit allowed A-Rod to run the bases, and he advanced to second base on a hard single by Adonis Garcia. Scranton/Wilkes-Barre failed to score in the remainder of the frame, and he was stranded at second base.

Following a strikeout in his third at-bat, Rodriguez slammed a liner to left field in his final at-bat. He dug for second base, but the ball took just one hop off the wall and he was thrown out as he slid in trying to beat the tag from Louisville second baseman Emmanuel Burriss.

Despite the out at second, Rodriguez was happy with how his body felt following the multihit performance.

"As far as mobility, I think all that stuff is coming along pretty well," Rodriguez said.

"They [Louisville] were playing no doubles defense, but that's no excuse," said Rodriguez.

"My preparation for tomorrow has already started," he added of his postgame routine. "I go through all my routines, and when I wake up in the morning, more routines and then I come in ready to play. Hopefully that proactive type of work will keep me away from trouble."

A suggestion was made in his postgame press conference that Rodriguez could return early and help the Yankees in a DH role, but he was quick to brush off those suggestions.

"DH is a bad idea for me," said Rodriguez, who did admit his eagerness to rejoin the Yankees and help his teammates. "I'm such a baseball guy; I finished my at-bats and ran up the stairs to watch every pitch of [the big league game]. I would do anything to be at Fenway right now."