Yankees Eric Chavez hits a RBI single driving home Nick Swisher during the fifth inning. (Neil Miller)
There was no surprise, Eric Chavez insisted, that he was starting at third base for the Yankees last night.
And after seeing his contributions, the only surprise would have been had he not started.
On a night when CC Sabathia dominated, Chavez made an impressive backhanded stop in the second inning of a hard smash by the Mariners’ Franklin Gutierrez (Chavez was saved by a nice pick at first by Mark Teixeira — hey, he was just off the DL). Chavez made another solid, though not as tough, play on Chone Figgins’ bid for a hit in the third.
At the plate, Chavez singled in a run in the Yanks’ two-run fifth inning uprising before the skies opened during the Yankees’ 4-1 victory.
In the eighth, when struggling Seattle scored its only run, Chavez momentarily bobbled a base-loaded, one-out grounder by Figgins. Chavez got the out at third. There’s no way it would have been a double play with Figgins running.
“Everything felt pretty good. Except for the rain delay,” Chavez said later.
Chavez, signed largely to back up Alex Rodriguez, reminded all those who might have forgotten about his value. He went out May 5 when he suffered a broken left foot. Injuries have been a part of his life since 2007.
“The frustration was pretty high. It’s not easy,” said Chavez, whose return was stalled by issues with a kidney stone and sore back. “I hadn’t been playing that well in quite some time so yeah, the frustration level was pretty high. Hopefully, I can close that chapter and move forward. I’m just glad to be back.”
And he came back in the starting lineup, officially activated yesterday as infielder Brandon Laird was returned to Triple A Scranton Wilkes-Barre.
“I kind of had an idea,” said Chavez. “So, no I’m not surprised. If Alex was here, I wouldn’t be playing but he’s not so . . . ”
So manager Joe Girardi had the perfect way to give Eduardo Nunez a day off and utilize Chavez’s bat plus his six-time Gold Glove defense.
“It was easy to put him in there. This guy has played extremely well for us when he is healthy,” Girardi said, insisting he had no concerns about the shaky defense of Nunez, who has committed 13 errors, a team high, in 63 games.
“Nuney is still going to play. He has played extremely well. I thought he could use a day (off). I am not of the belief that we would play Chavy six or seven days in a row,” Girardi said. “I think our guys like when Nuney is in the field. The more he has played the better he has played.”
