Cashman didn't want to mess around with A-Rod's calf

An injury the Yankees originally thought would cost Alex Rodriguez just a couple of days is going to sideline the third baseman a bit more than that.

The Yankees, after initially believing a stint on the disabled list wouldn't be necessary for Rodriguez to heal his strained left calf, put A-Rod on the 15-day DL Saturday afternoon.

"I didn't want to mess with this, it's as simple as that," general manager Brian Cashman said by phone after today's victory. "Let's give him 15 days to make sure this is behind him."

In the corresponding roster move, the Yankees promoted righthander Ivan Nova from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Nova, 12-3 with a 2.86 ERA in 23 starts for Scranton, will start Monday night in Toronto.

"He's been tremendous all season," Cashman said of Nova.

That could not be said for Javier Vazquez, who had a miserable afternoon, not able to make it out of the fourth inning.

“Bad location,” Vazquez said. “I’m not getting ahead of the guys. If you don’t get ahead of the hitters, you’re going to get hit in the big leagues. I’m not locating, I’m getting behind in the count…all of that translates to a lot of runs in a few innings.”