Maureen Mullen

Special for USA TODAY Sports

BOSTON – New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi took umbrage on Wednesday with the way his lineup decisions have been portrayed this week. Girardi admitted he made a mistake – and apologized -- on Sunday when he said Alex Rodriguez, who will be released after Friday’s game, could get as many at-bats as he wants before his final game.

Before the Yankees game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Wednesday, Girardi expressed anger with those he believes are “playing both sides” in the issue – the media.

“Not the organization and not he fans,” Girardi said. “I think people are playing both sides of this because I think it creates a story and that’s obviously, I get it, your job to create stories.

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“But I believe that (I) have a responsibility to the organization, to the team, to the players in that room to put out what (I) feel is the best lineup and try to win every game. Also (I) have a responsibility to baseball because there are teams fighting for (playoff) spots here and you have to do what you feel is the best, and that becomes difficult.”

Rodriguez did not play in the opener Tuesday of the three-game set and was not in the starting lineup on Wednesday.

“I’m putting out – I’m not saying that I don’t think I can win with Alex in the lineup,” Girardi said. “What I’m saying is I’m putting out what I think is the best lineup. As we sit around and talk about it as coaches, that’s my job. That is in my job description. My job description does not entail farewell tours. My job description is to try to win every game and to try to put everyone in the best possible position to do that. And that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Girardi has managed the last season for several retiring Yankees legends, including Derek Jeter in 2014 and Jorge Posada in 2011. Mark Teixeira, who announced on Friday he will retire after the season, entered Wednesday batting .196 in 81 of the Yankees 112 games this season, missing three weeks with a knee injury. He was hitting fourth on Wednesday as he has for most of the season. Jeter hit .256 with a .617 OPS in his 145 games in his 20th and final season, primarily batting second.

“Well, part of that is, when you talk about moving people, we didn’t have anybody hitting that year,” Girardi said. “So I didn’t really have a replacement, in a sense. So this year we have people that we want to try. We have replacements, and that’s the biggest difference. There’s the question about Tex yesterday. I told you Tex was swinging better but Tex has gotten opportunities because people have gotten hurt, and it’s different. We don’t have a replacement for Tex in a sense. Tex has had a struggle this year. He’s been swinging the bat a lot better lately like we think he’s capable of.”

On Wednesday, the Yankees had rookie Gary Sanchez hitting .217 serving as the designated hitter batting seventh and Aaron Hicks hitting .192 playing right field batting ninth.

Rodriguez, who is four shy of 700 career home runs, is batting .204 with a .609 OPS and nine home runs in 62 games this season. His last start was July 30 at Tampa Bay. His last appearance in a game was as a pinch-hitter Aug. 2 at Citi Field against the Mets. Entering the series at Fenway, he thought he would be starting in all four of his final games.

“This (Rodriguez’s slump) has been going on since last August,” Girardi said. “This is not something that just transpired in a month. And we made the decision to sit him as we sat around and talked. We felt the combination of Carlos (Beltran, traded to Texas at the deadline) and Hicks was probably a better combination because we thought we could keep Carlos in the lineup more. And we could improve defensively in right field. And we’re not always right. That’s the thing, we’re not always right, but we have to do what we feel is right.”

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Rodriguez is not expected to start until Thursday.

“I’m managing to try to win the games and that’s what I have to do,” Girardi said on Tuesday “This is a very important series for us. This is one of the teams that we’re chasing. Obviously, it’s important to try to win the first game of the series and try to win the series. But I’ve said all along, if you want to catch up, you have to beat the teams in front of you and have a good series.

Rodriguez, who said it was “surprising and shocking” to those comments.

“I know he didn’t’ like it,” Girardi said. “(But) no one individual is ever bigger than this game. No one, no one, no one, no one. And I’m not going to forget that. As much as I care about him, and as much as we’ve been through together, it’s hard, believe me it’s really hard, but I have to remember that.”

Rodriguez was originally scheduled to face knuckleballer Steven Wright on Thursday. But Wright has been scratched because of an injury with left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez getting the start.

Rodriguez is also scheduled to start Friday against the Rays at Yankee Stadium. Why are those two games different than Tuesday’s or Wednesday’s?

“Thursday, he had some success against Rodriguez," Girardi said. “He saw him last time. He was 0 for 2 with a walk. Tampa is in a situation where they’re pretty far behind. So that’s different.”

Earlier in the week Girardi had said he would give Rodriguez as much playing time as the fading slugger wants.

"If he wants to play in every game, I'll find a way," Girardi said on Sunday, after a press conference announcing Rodriguez’s pending retirement.

On Wednesday, Girardi acknowledged that was a mistake.

“And I corrected myself yesterday,” Girardi said. “And what I said yesterday was I got caught up with my emotions, and I apologize for that. I made a mistake. I’m human. But I told you what I was trying to do. And when I was asked the other questions, I’m very aware of what my quotes were: There’d be conversations and I would try to get him in every game. I said that. But I’m saying I made a mistake and I’m admitting that and I’m admitting that to everyone who’s watching because I have a responsibility. I’m trying to take care of my responsibility.”

Managing Rodriguez’s final week after the Sunday announcement has been different, Girardi said, than managing the final seasons for other players.

“It’s been different in the sense that it’s more in the middle of the season than it is at the end,” Girardi said. “And there’s the announcement on Sunday and it’s a short period of time. Every player’s different because there’s ties to every player. Each player handles it differently. So none of them are easy. Just because, I think, you care so much about the people that are playing and it’s difficult to see. I remember what it was like to take off my uniform. It was really hard. And you know what they’re going through and it’s difficult.”

Girardi, who has often defended Rodriguez during his slump, acknowledges the relationship between the two may be strained now.

“Oh, I think maybe in the long run it won’t,” he said. “But in the short term it’s been difficult. I said it yesterday, when you’re the guy that’s telling someone 'No,' you’re the guy that people vent their anger at.

“It’s difficult and that’s why I get partially angry here because I believe people are playing both sides of the fence because it creates news. It doesn’t help our situation. It doesn’t help our clubhouse, in a sense. It doesn’t help our relationship that we built over so many years. And that’s what angers me.”

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