By The Associated Press

Published: Thursday, October 11, 2012, 7:56 p.m.
Updated: Friday, October 12, 2012

• The Yankees' team bus was on the Henry Hudson Parkway on Saturday when Joe Girardi's phone rang. After deteriorating from Alzheimer's disease since the 1990s, his father had died. “I had tears in my eyes on the bus, so I put some sunglasses on,” the manager said Thursday, struggling not to cry, “and (did) probably what a lot of men do when they go through difficult and sad times: We try to stay busy.” For five days, Girardi did not disclose his dad's death to his players, not wanting to distract his team. Jerry Girardi, who was 81, will be buried in Tampico, Ill., on Monday — an off day in the AL Championship Series. “I was going to tell them, you know, God willing we get into the next round, that I was going to the funeral on Monday, and I wouldn't be at the workout,” he said. Alzheimer's runs in the Girardi family. His father's mother died from it, and his father's brother, Ronnie, did, too.

• Girardi said he expected big things from Alex Rodriguez and for Derek Jeter to be in the Yankees' lineup regardless of how much his foot aches. Rodriguez was dropped to fifth in the batting order, and Jeter shifted to designated hitter for Thursday's Game 4 of the AL Division Series. A-Rod was moved down from the No. 3 slot. A day earlier, Raul Ibanez pinch-hit for the slumping slugger in the ninth inning and hit a tying home run, then connected for a winning homer in the 12th. Jeter fouled a ball off his left foot Wednesday, and the All-Star shortstop left the game after eight innings with a limp. He had X-rays but wouldn't reveal the results.

• The Boston Red Sox will start their search for a new manager by interviewing Los Angeles Dodgers third-base coach Tim Wallach on Friday.

— AP

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