Alex Rodriguez used his short game yesterday to kill the A’s at the Stadium.

Not quite the display of power he showed in the April 26 game against the Angels in which A-Rod hit three home runs and drove in 10 runs, yesterday was more of a finesse day by Rodriguez in a 5-0 win against Oakland.

Rodriguez, without hitting the ball out of the park, racked up three RBIs and registered his first multiple-RBI game since that dominating performance last month.

“I’ve felt fine,” Rodriguez said. “I had some good at-bats, good walks, putting the ball in play. I’ve felt fine all year.”

Yesterday A-Rod finally got around to taking home the lineup card from his home run hat trick game. The lineup card for yesterday’s game against Oakland probably will not find a place in his personal trophy chest, though Rodriguez went 2-for-4 in the shutout victory.

Rodriguez gave the Yankees a 4-0 lead in the third inning with a double to left-center that scored Tony Womack and Gary Sheffield against Oakland starter Joe Blanton (0-3). A-Rod crushed the 2-0 delivery from the right-hander with runners in scoring position for his seventh double of the year and an at-bat he was particularly proud of afterward.

“That’s a challenging at-bat because you have the base open and Tino’s [Martinez] been swinging the bat well behind me,” Rodriguez said. “But I just wanted to make sure I got a pitch up and got a full hack; I wanted to make sure I got my money’s worth there and that was a big hit for us.”

Joe Torre said he wanted to move Martinez behind fifth-place Rodriguez in the order to help protect A-Rod. In the win, which snapped a four-game losing streak, the strategy worked.

“I got some good pitches to hit. The 2-0 was a breaking ball,” Rodriguez said. “But I always get good pitches to hit. I just miss them most of the time.”