MINNEAPOLIS — The Yankees are holding up their end of the bargain with their bargain-basement players.
They put on their own Fourth of July fireworks show at Target Field yesterday, blasting the Twins, 9-5, to sweep the four-game series. The win sent the Yankees home with a 46-39 record and keeps them in the middle of the wild-card race and within distance of the Red Sox as they get set to play 10 games at Yankee Stadium before the All-Star break.
It soon will be time for Alex Rodriguez to hold up his end of the bargain.
Instead of telling A-Rod to "shut the f--k up,'' general manager Brian Cashman could have shortened that angry comment to these four words: "Time to put up!''
With each Yankees victory, the pressure grows on Rodriguez, who is trying to come back from a career that looked dead in the water last year. A-Rod is coming back from hip surgery and is dogged by the Biogenesis investigation. There is nothing but dark clouds above him and when the A-Rod circus returns on July 22 in Texas, it will be interesting to see how Rodriguez impacts the chemistry of this club.
It will be even more interesting to see if he has anything left.
"I know people think I'm nuts,'' Rodriguez told USA Today. "I know most people wouldn't want the confrontation. Most people would say, 'Get me out of here. Trade me. Do anything.' But I'm the [expletive] crazy man who goes, 'I want to compete. I want to stay in New York. I refuse to quit.' "
Rodriguez is 37, but age cannot be used as an excuse quite yet, especially when you consider the exploits of the 39-year-old Ichiro Suzuki, who produced a huge day against the Washington Generals outfit known as the Minnesota Twins.
Ichiro is two years older than A-Rod, but there are no steroid skeletons in his closet.
With Brett Gardner getting a much needed rest, Ichiro was placed in the leadoff spot by manager Joe Girardi and he turned back the hands of time, doubling in the Yankees' three-run first, singling in the second and tripling two runs home in the sixth before scoring later in the inning. This was a make-shift lineup that included Alberto Gonzalez at third base.
On this day, the NY insignia was featured in red, white and blue on grey caps with a Yankees blue bill, a much different look.
It's been nothing but new looks all year for the Yankees, who have used 42 players already. So when the old A-Rod face returns he must produce more than just catchy quotes as he did in Charleston when he noted, "The good news for me is I didn't hit 101 [mph] before hip surgery.''
The Yankees play host to the Orioles — who swept them in Baltimore — for three days beginning tonight with Ivan Nova getting yet another shot at the rotation because of Hiroki Kuroda's sore hip. After the Orioles leave, it's seven games against the Royals and Twins, with the Yankees boasting a 14-3 record versus the AL Central this season.
The first series after the break is against the Red Sox, then Rodriguez is set for his return.
The Yankees will be right in the thick of it by then and he will have no room for excuses. This team has held up its end of the bargain.
"These guys who have not had a chance to play every day and young guys, it's kind of a hodge-podge we've put together because of the injuries,'' Girardi said. "Even through our struggles, these guys have given effort every day and have never quit and you can really appreciate that.''
A-Rod is not about to give up, either.
"You hear all of the doubters,'' Rodriguez told USA Today, "and that just fuels me. They don't know me. I'm not giving up. I never will. I'm not wired that way. This is the hardest fight I've ever had. There have been days, like, 'Holy [expletive], how am I going to get through this day?' But you keep getting after it, keep pushing.''
Strong words, but those words have to be put into action.
Rodriguez is never going to shut up. These Yankees have held up their end of the bargain. For A-Rod, it's time to put up, big fella.
kevin.kernan@nypost.com
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