CHARLESTON, S.C. — With the way Alex Rodriguez looked last night, he should have no trouble fitting into the Yankees' lineup.
Playing in his first rehab game after a second hip surgery, the third baseman hit into a double play and struck out looking in two at-bats for Class-A Charleston in a 4-2 win over Rome. Rodriguez was twice tested with bunts in his direction, resulting in hits both times.
"It almost feels like March 1 for spring training," Rodriguez said after his three-inning stint alongside Eduardo Nunez (oblique), who went 2-for-3 and played short. "That's basically the approach."
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bunt truth: Alex Rodriguez began a minor league rehab assignment last night in Charleston, S.C., and failed to get to a first-inning bunt in time to get an out. He went 0-for-2 from the plate, striking out and hitting into a double play.
With just 20 days to work with before he is due back with the Yankees, Rodriguez doesn't have a lot of time to get ready.
"I'll have a pretty good idea how I feel after half a dozen games or so, but today was pretty good," Rodriguez said after a standing-room-only crowd of 8,255 showed up at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. "I put the ball in play. It's a slow progression."
Prior to the game, he made it clear he expects his path to end with him in the lineup for the Yankees, perhaps on July 22 in Texas.
"We're scheduled to play, hopefully, 20 days from now," Rodriguez said of his return to the Yankees. "So I feel very confident."
When reminded the series before that is against the Red Sox in Fenway Park, Rodriguez smiled and said: "I know about it."
With the Yankees trying to stay alive in the AL East and David Adams drowning at third base, they have little to lose.
Rodriguez has been rehabbing since January's hip surgery and after a conference call that included the third baseman and general manager Brian Cashman on Monday, the decision was made to get him in a game. He will play again for the RiverDogs tonight before working out tomorrow and heading back to Florida to play for Single-A Tampa in Lakeland on Friday.
"The biggest challenge has been the weather," Rodriguez said. "I have 20 [days] to get it right and we don't want to lose dates."
As Cashman said Monday, Rodriguez expects to use the full 20-day window to get back.
"I think because I haven't played in eight, nine months, we'll try to take full advantage of the 20 days," Rodriguez said.
In that time, he and the Yankees should learn a lot.
"It's been a long time since I've done anything," said Rodriguez, adding he has not been in contact with MLB regarding its investigation into the Biogenesis scandal.
"Look, let's be honest, the way the year ended last year was pretty bloody," Rodriguez said. "We got swept [by the Tigers in the ALCS], I got benched and pinch-hit for, and I have no one to blame but myself, because I stunk up the house. You think about that for eight or nine months, that's enough to fuel you to come back and hopefully be a player that can help the team and be an impact in the middle of our lineup."
For now, he will continue working on his conditioning.
As for his communication with Cashman, which turned ugly last week, Rodriguez said: "We've had several conversations, which have included, obviously, the announcement [Monday] and also the schedule for the next 20 days and I think everybody's lined up.
"We have the same interests. We have the same goal, which is to get me back to New York as soon as possible and hopefully, like 2009, win a championship."
Watching him lumber to first base on the double play and have no chance on either bunt attempt makes that ending difficult to envision.
Even Rodriguez joked about the opening play, when Kyle Wren, son of Braves' GM Frank Wren, laid down a bunt to third — and admitted afterward he knew Rodriguez was vulnerable.
"Welcome back," Rodriguez said. "It always works out that way."
The Yankees have to hope Rodriguez's tenure doesn't work out as poorly.
dan.martin@nypost.com
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