A-Rod: would have been a fantastic present

Alex Rodriguez turned 35 today and, yes, he had the natural thought: what a perfect night it would have been to get No. 600. Especially when he came up in the ninth inning as the potential tying run.  

"I thought it would have been a fantastic present but it didn’t work out," he said after the 4-1 loss. "I’ve had some good birthdays. Tonight wasn’t the greatest but I’m still going to enjoy it."

CC Sabathia, who lost for the first time since May 23, watched on a clubhouse TV as A-Rod came up.

"Seemed like a pretty ideal time [to hit No. 600] and since I’ve been here he’s hit some big homers for us," Sabathia said. "So anytime you’ve got some runners on base in a situation like that you feel he’s going to come through."

Rodriguez, after going 0-for-4 Monday, said he was happy with his approach at the plate, but he amended that last night.

“A few times over the last three or four days I’ve kind of come out of it a little bit, trying to swing a little too hard, maybe getting a little pull happy,” said Rodriguez, who hit No. 599 last Thursday against the Royals. “As long as I swing at strikes, good things are going to happen.”

And while Rodriguez, and some shoddy fielding -- along with some shoddy umpiring -- in the fourth inning got much of the attention tonight, the Yankees had just one hit through six innings against Josh Tomlin, who was making his major league debut.

“For the most part I don’t think we had any good swings off him," Rodriguez said.

*** Jorge Posada, a late scratch because of soreness behind his left knee, said he might be able to DH tomorrow but probably won't be behind the plate for "a couple days." He said when he squatted less than a half hour before the game he told bench coach Tony Pena the area behind his left knee felt “a little more painful than usual.”

It was the reoccurrence of pain the catcher felt at times last year.

“I’ve been having issues with it through out and just today a little more achy than usual,” he said.