Girardi unlikely to tweak lineup vs. Dickey

NEW YORK -- On Saturday afternoon, Yankees manager Joe Girardi remained focused on that night's opponent, Mets right-hander Chris Young, but he did not expect to make any drastic lineup changes for Sunday night's contest in an effort to counteract R.A. Dickey's knuckleball.

"You can't worry about that; you have to play the game," Girardi said. "I don't think you really alter your lineup. If you see someone who has had a lot of success, you might put him in there thinking that they've been successful against knuckleballers."

That means a typical Yankees lineup, with left-handed-hitting veteran Raul Ibanez likely getting the start in left field against the right-handed Dickey. Ibanez has experience against Dickey from his time in Philadelphia, where he went 7-for-17 with two homers and four RBIs facing the knuckler. Ibanez is also 9-for-34 with six extra-base hits in his career against former Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.

Third baseman Eric Chavez is 4-for-12 in his career against Dickey but has not faced him since Dickey reinvented himself with the Mets. Alex Rodriguez is 1-for-5 with a double against Dickey since the right-hander began relying on the knuckleball in New York.

Under former manager Joe Torre, the Yankees occasionally brought in knuckleballers to throw batting practice in advance of Wakefield starts, but Girardi said there are no plans to do so before Sunday's series finale.

"Those guys aren't really easy to find, either," Girardi said. "They're not really lining up. I'm sure if it's written in the paper tomorrow, we might get a few calls, but we have no plans to do that."