A-Rod got hurt then played as a DH…

JUST when the Yankees gave him the chance to opt out, Alex Rodriguez opted in.
Into the lineup, that is, and at third base, no less, for what became an 8-0 rout of the Twins at Yankee Stadium. It came less than 24 hours after he left Monday's game after tripping over Minnesota first-baseman Justin Morneau while beating out a sixth-inning double-play ball.
He left the game, there was talk about a pulled hammy, and there was premature panic in Monument Park about life without Alex.
This is somewhat humorous in light of the almost universally expressed sentiment immediately after the playoffs that the door couldn't hit A-Rod's bum quickly enough on his way out of New York, but to anyone who has actually watched the Yankees this year, this was no laughing matter at all.
Certainly this was no joke to Joe Torre, who's had to manage around a lineup that, the last two nights to the contrary, has been dead other than for Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada. Concerned on Monday, Torre last night was relieved to learn of Rodriguez's rate of recovery.
"I certainly thought it would be a day or so," the manager said. "He sought me out and told me that he felt fine and was ready to go.
"He had the option of DH-ing, but he wanted to play third."
Rodriguez went 0-for-4 before leaving the game after the Yanks got five in the sixth to extend their lead to a bullpen-proof eight runs. He popped up twice, grounded out and struck out. In a man-bites-dog bulletin, he was the only Yankees starter not to get a hit. With a game this afternoon, why push it?
"He said he felt it a little bit," Torre said after it had ended. "We'll see how it feels [today] and if it's OK, he'll DH."