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August 6th, 2013 
Peter Nolan Alex Rodriguez got his wish to make his 2013 major league debut on Aug. 5. What’s more, Rodriguez didn’t even have to play on appeal, as his 211-game suspension won’t go into effect until the New York Yankees finish their series with the Chicago White Sox. In the midst of all that, the Yankees actually have to keep playing and get some wins, which they failed to do during Round 1 of the A-Rod soap opera.
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The Yankees couldn’t use Rodriguez’s distracting return as an excuse for their 8-1 loss to the White Sox. Even with all the madness, any team should have been able to beat a White Sox club on a 10-game losing streak, under any circumstance. The Yankees certainly can’t afford to give up easy wins in their precarious playoff position.
Yet even before Rodriguez had his first at-bat to lead off the second, the Yankees were already down by 3-0. It got to 7-0 after just three innings, as Andy Pettitte — another icon of the steroid era — was chased out after getting only eight outs.
New York is only bringing Rodriguez back because it has few other healthy offensive weapons left. But if the Yankees are hoping against hope that the 38-year-old third baseman will jump start the rest of the lineup, it didn’t come true on this first night. After getting a bloop single in his first at-bat, he was hitless the rest of the game.
Having Rodriguez didn’t make up for not having Derek Jeter or Mark Teixeira. In fact, Vernon Wells was the only Yankee swinging a hot bat with a three-hit night, although his teammates had six combined themselves. But with Pettitte giving up seven runs, no amount of offense would have been enough.
If anything, the Yankees have to be relieved over Rodriguez’s media swarm. Otherwise, their fourth place standing and inability to beat inferior opponents would be the big story in New York. But when he settles into his potential final run of games until 2015, the rest of the Yankees and their problems will be back under the spotlight and wilting.
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