Posada dropped to ninth, then is scratched

After Friday night's loss, Joe Girardi said he was thinking about doing some tinkering with the Yankees' struggling lineup.

He did just that Saturday night, dropping Jorge Posada to ninth and Nick Swisher to eighth.

Neither had batted in those positions this season, and Posada kept that streak intact when he was scratched from the lineup about a half-hour before first pitch. Andruw Jones took his place at designated hitter in the ninth position.

The Yankees did not announce a reason for the scratch. Posada took batting practice and fielded some balls at first during BP.

Russell Martin was moved to sixth, the second time he's hit there this year, and Brett Gardner was bumped up to seventh, also for the second time.

Before the game, the changes were the dominant topic.

"Just trying to get some guys going," Girardi said. "Martin and Gardy we feel have had pretty good at-bats and have been productive, and just dropped Swish and Posada. It's been a struggle this year. We're just trying to get them going."

Posada, a proud veteran dropped to the ninth spot, jumped out, of course. The 39-year-old designated hitter, who entered Saturday hitting .165, made something clear.

"I put myself in this spot," he said before the game.

Posada actually had batted ninth in 108 previous games in his career.

Swisher, sporting a fresh mohawk, also said he was fine with the move. "If I need to be moved down in the lineup to help the team out, I'm all for it," he said. "I'm obviously not doing as well as I want to be."

Girardi dropped Gardner to ninth earlier in the season and the leftfielder has responded recently, bringing a 9-for-20 tear into Saturday night.

Girardi acknowledged a difference between demoting a player with Posada's track record and the 27-year-old Gardner's.

"It is [tougher],'' Girardi said. "I have a ton of respect for what Jorgie's done over his career and the success that he's had. No one wants to be bumped down or moved down in the order, I don't care who you are. I don't care if you're a young guy and you're struggling, you don't want to be moved down. But with what Jorgie has meant to this franchise, the success that he's had, it is a little more difficult."

Girardi said he wasn't thinking in terms of how much longer Posada has before he considers a move out of the order to the bench.

"Our hope is that he gets going and we don't have to cross that bridge," Girardi said. "That's my thought process in this. You don't necessarily think that a guy's not going to be able to do it who's done it so long in his career."

Girardi wasn't ready to guarantee that Posada, hitting .212 against righthanders and 0-for-24 against lefties this season, automatically will be his DH against lefthanders. The Yankees face two lefties the next two nights -- Boston's Jon Lester Sunday night and Tampa Bay's David Price Monday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

"I'll worry about that as we get to lefthanded pitchers in the next few days," Girardi said.

On one hand, Posada said, "I don't feel like I'm in a slump," referencing a four-game series in Detroit at the start of the month when he felt he swung the bat the best he has all season.

But he isn't oblivious to where he's at.

"I'm in the lineup, and the only way I'm coming out of hitting ninth is just producing, that's the bottom line," Posada said. "I'm still in there and just keep building on positives. I'm still in the lineup. I put myself in this spot. It's not like I'm wanting to hit ninth and it's not like I want to hit .100 and whatever I'm hitting. It's just a matter of coming out of it."