Running out infield hit without pain pleases A-Rod

Never before has an infield hit meant so much in Alex Rodriguez's world.

The Yankees third baseman, who made his return from the disabled list Sunday, beat out a weak grounder to third base in the sixth inning without feeling any discomfort in his troublesome left calf.

"It was a sigh of relief that there was no pain," he said.

That 80-foot single was one of two hits in five at-bats for Rodriguez in the Yankees' 7-3 loss to the Blue Jays - he also lined a hard RBI single to centerfield in the seventh - but the pain-free race to first base clearly resonated the most for him.

Rodriguez insisted he didn't run all out, saying he held himself back to "80, 85 percent" effort, but the fact that he didn't feel anything in his calf was a welcome sign that this nagging injury is behind him.

"You always have a little hesitation," said Rodriguez, who also struck out looking to end the game. "You don't want to bust it 100 percent until you have some games under you, but I felt pretty good out there."

With the Yankees comfortably in position to secure a postseason berth, seeing Rodriguez go through a full game without any problems for the first time since Aug. 15 certainly ranked as a victory of sorts, even on a day when they suffered their first loss in nine games.

When Rodriguez initially hurt his calf Aug. 16, the Yankees downplayed it, thinking it would be an issue for only a few days. But when the calf bothered him again four days later, the Yankees immediately pulled him from the game in the first inning and put him on the disabled list.

Sunday marked the first day Rodriguez was eligible to return, and he joked that the game "seemed pretty long because I hadn't played in a while." He also was more aggressive than usual at the plate in the early going, seeing a total of only five pitches from Toronto's Brett Cecil through his first three at-bats.

"I haven't hit for a long time, so I'm just trying to feel my way," Rodriguez said.

Manager Joe Girardi did not commit to playing Rodriguez again this afternoon against Baltimore at Yankee Stadium, and Rodriguez said he needs to see how his calf feels when he wakes up Monday before he thinks about playing again.

But in the best-case scenario, Rodriguez doesn't see himself needing additional time off to nurse his calf back into action.

"Hopefully, I'm in there again," he said, referring to today's lineup.

Rodriguez said he plans to continue to hold back a little while he runs, at least for a few days, just to be sure.

"I think I can go faster, but it's just being cautious," he said. "I think for the first three or four days, it's important to put some parameters on how hard you try to run."

The Yankees have been oddly successful this season without A-Rod in the lineup, going 21-3. That's a sign of their lineup's depth as much as anything else.

"He'd make any team better," Derek Jeter said. "Put him on the All-Star team and he'd make an All-Star team better."