Yankees back for more against O's

By Anthony RieberSeptember 7, 2011

The Yankees and Orioles are scheduled to begin Wednesday’s game a little after 1 p.m., which is less than 11 hours after Tuesday’s rain-delayed contest ended at 2:15 a.m.

Manager Joe Girardi rested all of the regulars who played on Tuesday except for one – Nick Swisher – against Orioles lefthander Zach Britton. That gave the Yankees’ batting order a spring training feel.

The lineup:

Eduardo Nunez SS

Russell Martin C

Nick Swisher RF

Alex Rodriguez 3B

Andruw Jones LF

Jesus Montero DH

Brandon Laird 1B

Greg Golson CF

Ramiro Pena 2B

A.J. Burnett P

Of Tuesday’s rain-soaked game, Girardi said, “I know my hat and shoes are still wet.” But he said MLB did the only thing they could by starting the game at 11:08 p.m. after a four-hour, three-minute delay.

“You look at the weather today, too,” he said. “Could you play a doubleheader? Yeah, maybe. But we don’t know what’s going to happen with the weather today. And having a day game in Baltimore tomorrow, we were in a tough spot. Everyone was in a tough spot because there are no really off days left. We’re at the end of the season. These games have to be played. I don’t know that there was an alternative. I really don’t. Were the conditions bad? They weren’t great. In the [top of the fifth], where it really rained hard, that was the worst time for the players. The infield was soaked, home plate was soaked, the mound had to be wet. I was concerned about that.”

After Wednesday’s game, the Yankees will head to Baltimore to play the Orioles again in a 1 p.m. makeup game on Thursday.

Swisher, by the way, when asked about being in the lineup today, said: “I’m a rock star.” And he said he doesn’t want Thursday off.