Rodriguez goes on disabled list with calf injury

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 the Yankees' 9-5 victory over the Mariners. "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.

On Friday, in his first game since leaving Monday's contest with the strain, A-Rod lasted only one at-bat. He grounded out to third in the second inning and immediately seemed to be in pain before trotting to first base.

Before yesterday's game, manager Joe Girardi said he hasn't second-guessed himself for starting A-Rod Friday because of the way the calf had responded to batting-practice sessions.

"His BP sessions, he went at it pretty hard," Girardi said. "Those two days in the cage, he said he felt tremendous. He felt explosion and everything."

Cashman said that by putting A-Rod on the DL, there's "no more guessing." The move eliminates the possibility of Rodriguez - in six days, for example - "saying 'I can go' when maybe he can't," Cashman said.

The Yankees improved to 11-0 this season with A-Rod out of the lineup. They have averaged 8.2 runs per game, hit .306 and hit 20 home runs in those games, but all that is a statistical quirk more than anything.

Rodriguez is second in the majors with 97 RBIs. "We're obviously going to miss him," Mark Teixeira said. "You can't help but miss a guy like Alex."

As for the 23-year-old Nova, he earned the promotion with his steady excellence for Scranton. He came up briefly in May when the bullpen needed help and allowed four hits and no runs in three innings in two games. Tomorrow's game against the Blue Jays will be his first big-league start. "He's been tremendous all season," Cashman said.

Cashman and Girardi said the plan is for Nova to make one start and that the idea isn't to go to a six-man rotation, at least for now. The idea is to give each of the starters an extra day off, something everyone on the team probably feels the need for with the Yankees in a stretch of 20 straight games. They have an off day Thursday.

Girardi said of going to a six-man rotation: "I don't think so right now because we do have off and we don't have any stretches like this the rest of the year. It might be something we have to look at, but sitting here right now, it's not what I'm assuming we're going to do."