Yankees pinstripe plus

George King

Alex Rodriguez's trust of the Yankees reached an all-time low late in July when his advisers recruited Dr. Michael Gross of New Jersey to essentially accuse the Yankees of committing insurance fraud.

Rodriguez sought a second opinion on a left quadriceps problem by giving Gross the MRI that was taken by the club and read by team doctor Chris Ahmad, who diagnosed the injury as a Grade 1 strain. Gross, who never examined Rodriguez, said he saw nothing on the MRI.

That set off a back-and-forth between the club and its highest-paid player that resulted in Rodriguez strongly suggesting he didn't trust the Yankees when he called into a radio show.

Paul J. Bereswill

GAME OF THE MONTH:

YANKEES 6, RAYS 5,

July 28

Derek Jeter hit the first pitch in his comeback from a DL stint for a right quadriceps problem for an opposite-field homer off Cy Young candidate Matt Moore.

In his third game in a second act as a Yankee, Alfonso Soriano drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth with a single. He also hit a two-run homer in the third.

And while all of this was going down, Rodriguez was waiting to hear from MLB about a suspension due to his involvement with Biogenesis.

The Yankees went 14-12 in July, but went from

61/2 games out of first place after June 30 to a season-high 8 1/2 back.

And they acquired Alfonso Soriano from the Cubs 10 years after dealing him to the Rangers in the trade that brought Rodriguez to The Bronx.

MVP: Hiroki Kuroda

Kuroda morphed into the staff ace with the way he pitched in July and how much CC Sabathia struggled.

Finishing it off with seven shutout innings against the Dodgers last night, Kuroda was 3-0 in five July starts with an ERA of 0.55 and is 10-6 with a 2.38 ERA for the season.

Sabathia finished the month 1-3 with a 6.60 ERA in four starts and has people wondering if the former ace can turn it around.

LVP: Travis Hafner

Hafner ended the month on the disabled list with a strained right rotator cuff, but his bat was ill long before July 26, the last game he played.

He went 8-for-56 (.143) without a homer and just two RBIs in July, and his slugging percentage was a woeful .196.

If the injury is season-ending, the Yankees got a .205 average with 12 homers and 37 RBIs for the $2 million it cost to sign Hafner. Eight of those homers were hit before May 21.

LOOKING AHEAD

August starts with three games in San Diego and three more in Chicago against the White Sox; teams that are a combined 34 games under .500.

Even though it's six games on the road, the Yankees must win at least four of them to remain in touch with the Rays and Red Sox in the AL East.

Also working in the Yankees' favor are four games with the fast-sliding Angels at home

(Aug. 12-15) and six with the lifeless Blue Jays (three at home; three in Canada).

Offsetting those soft touches are three

with the Tigers at home, three at Fenway Park, three at Tampa Bay and two at Baltimore.

At some point we are going to see Dellin Betances as a reliever and J.R. Murphy behind the plate in the big leagues.

TAKE A GOOD LOOK

There are two more months to savor Mariano Rivera's regular-season career. Every appearance should be appreciated by not only Yankees fans but anybody who enjoys the game.

5 KEY STATS

23 Consecutive batters David Robertson has retired with the bases loaded. According to Elias, it's the longest streak since Jeff Brantley retired 30 in a row from 1989-91.

4 Homers the Yankees hit in the last 16 games.

47 Players used by the Yankees. That's two more than all of last year. The franchise record is 51 which was done in 2005 and 2008.

193 Vernon Wells' at-bats without a homer.

0.00 Mariano Rivera's career All-Star Game ERA following his magical eighth inning at Citi Field, a number that will last for eternity.