NEW YORK — Rain will put Derek Jeter’s pursuit of 3,000 hits on hold for at least one more day, but the absence of baseball Friday at Yankee Stadium did not necessarily mean the absence of two teams facing off against one another.The Yankees’ 7:05 p.m. ET game against the Rays Red Sox Carlton Fisk Jersey was postponed more than an hour before the scheduled first pitch and Authentic Ryan Howard Jersey will be made up Sept. 22, not as a split doubleheader Saturday, when these teams are already scheduled for a 1:05 p.m. contest. That’s because the Rays elected not Authentic Nick Swisher Jersey to play Robinson Cano Jersey a split doubleheader, which would have given Jeter one more game to try to record his 3,000th hit at home before the All-Star break.”Both teams have to agree, it’s the bottom Authentic Adrian Gonzalez Jersey line,” manager Joe Girardi said. “And we voted to play, Authentic Chase Utley Jersey and they voted not to play. Not sure why. And Authentic Roger Maris Jersey you’ve just Yankees Robinson Cano Jersey got to move forward, so we’re going to play later on.”When asked Roy Halladay Jersey why the Yankees chose not to play a straight doubleheader Saturday, general Cliff Lee Jersey manager Brian Cashman said: “Gate. Phillies Cole Hamels Jersey We’re not interested in losing, going from 81 home games to 80.”Jeter is two hits shy of becoming the 28th player in Major-League history to record 3,000 hits, and the Yankees’ first eight games after the All-Star break are on the road.”That’s important,” Girardi said of Jeter accomplishing the feat at Authentic Robinson Cano Jersey home. “It’s important to our fans. People have made a lot of arrangements to try to see this happen on the day that they Adrian Gonzalez Jersey pick, and it’s unfortunate that we lose a game here, and it takes a day Red Sox Carl Crawford Jersey away from Authentic Phil Rizzuto Jersey it [possibly] happening, but that was important to Phillies Roy Halladay Jersey us. It’s important to our fans, because of what our fans have meant to this organization.”Both Girardi and Cashman said they had no hard feelings toward Ryan Howard Jersey the Rays, and were just frustrated by the predicament the rain Authentic Roy Halladay Jersey put both clubs in.Freddy Garcia’s and Jeremy Hellickson’s scheduled starts Friday will not be made up before the All-Star break, and the rest of the weekend’s Authentic Carl Crawford Jersey pitching Authentic Cliff Lee Jersey matchups will remain as scheduled, with Yankees Nick Swisher Jersey A.J. Burnett facing David Price on Saturday, and CC Sabathia and James Shields taking the hill Sunday.The Yankees announced that those with tickets for Friday’s game may use them for the rescheduled game Sept. 22 — which does not yet have a start time — or exchange them for any regular-season game at Yankee Stadium within 12 months of the postponed game.Yankees player rep Curtis Granderson felt sorry for those expecting to see history Friday night, as average ticket prices for the originally scheduled contest had soared close to $200 on the secondary market, according to reports.”Obviously, you want Carl Crawford Jersey to have as Red Sox Adrian Gonzalez Jersey many chances as you can for the fans, rightfully so,” Granderson said. “To be the first and only Yankee to Authentic Cole Hamels Jersey have done it, it’d be fitting for him to do it at Yankee Stadium. Even more pressure on him now, the fact that Yankees Phil Rizzuto Jersey he has Phillies Chase Utley Jersey the Phillies Cliff Lee Jersey 3,000 knocking on the door. But, obviously, Mother Nature plays a key in this great game of baseball that we play.”Rays player rep Evan Longoria defended his club’s decision to not play a split Phillies Ryan Howard Jersey doubleheader Saturday.”I don’t think there’s really a win,” Longoria said. “The initial thought was they wanted to play a doubleheader tomorrow. Chase Utley Jersey I think we all know why they’d like to get these three games in, and, obviously, they’re rooting for Derek to Cole Hamels Jersey get his 3,000th hit here in this series. I mean, Phil Rizzuto Jersey we’d like to see Nick Swisher Jersey him do it, too. And he’s got two more days to do it.”As far as both teams go, it’s not real smart for us to play a doubleheader. It stretches guys out. It doesn’t give opportunity for a couple of teams to rest who are banged up, Yankees Roger Maris Jersey and Roger Maris Jersey just play one game and then another one.”
