Torre: Tactic 'inappropriate'

Yankees manager Joe Torre, who said yesterday Alex Rodriguez may have been out of line when he yelled something to an opponent attempting to catch a pop fly Wednesday, knew the controversy wasn't going to disappear when the team arrived here to take on the Red Sox.

As expected, it was the topic at Fenway Park prior to the start of the Yankees-Red Sox three-game series.

Rodriguez was running from second to third in the top of the ninth inning when he said something to Toronto third baseman Howie Clark, who was preparing to catch a pop fly hit by Jorge Posada. Rodriguez said he yelled, "Hah!" but the Blue Jays argued he yelled, "Mine!" and Clark backed off, thinking shortstop John McDonald had it. The ball dropped and the Yankees went on to win, 10-5, ending a five-game losing streak.

"It's probably something he shouldn't have done," Torre said. "But it's over with. What the hell else are you going to do? I don't sense he's going to do it again. I think just the reaction probably told him that. He may have been excited about the fact that we were leading the ballgame, going around toward third base. It was probably inappropriate to do it at the time he did it, but you can't change it, unfortunately."

Torre said at the time it happened, he didn't know what to make of the play.

"I had no idea what the hell happened," he said. "[The Blue Jays] were angry. Oh, there's no question. I can't say I blame them. But what are you going to do about it? What's happened has happened."

The skipper said he talked with Rodriguez about it, nothing extensive, but he certainly sounded as if a point were made.

"I think when he was telling me what he did, with the reaction that came with it, I don't really think he expected that reaction," said Torre, who was ejected in the fifth inning last night for arguing a call. "I really don't think he did anything intended to be serious and it turned out that way. That's just my read on the whole thing."

Torre, who needs four wins to become just the 10th manager in major league history to reach 2,000, touched on other topics .

The fact that Roger Clemens will not face the Red Sox this weekend but instead will make his 2007 Yankees debut against the White Sox Monday night, had nothing to do with the Red Sox, Torre said .

"It's not like it's a kid [set to face Boston]," said Torre. "We have [Chien-Ming] Wang, [Mike] Mussina, and [Andy] Pettitte. That's the basis. If we had a kid in there, for certain we'd move him out and move Roger in. Roger and I talked about it. Before his last rehab start, he said, 'Any time you want me, I'll be ready; I'll be ready for Boston,' and all that. I said, 'Let's see this rehab and then we'll make a decision.'

"I made the decision and he respected the fact that I made the decision. I know TV would love to have him because it will be great ratings, but they'll have to be stuck with [Curt] Schilling and [Mussina]."

Torre expects Clemens will be able to go about five or six innings.

"The thing about Roger, obviously, is he knows his body and he knows when he's on a short leash and he knows about throwing strikes," he said. "My guess is five or six innings to start with. We'll expect more later on."

Going on the disabled list yesterday could be a blessing in disguise for designated hitter Jason Giambi (partial tear of the plantar fascia ligament in his left foot). He is expected to be sidelined 3-6 weeks.

"He's been in and out and in and out and even when he was in, he was hurting," said Torre. "So this may be a blessing in disguise because we know who we have, we know what we're going to do. We'll bring Johnny [Damon] in out of the outfield and maybe we can get him started as the offensive force we know he is and save his legs a little bit [Damon has been hampered by a nagging calf injury]. Not that he won't play the outfield anymore, but for the most part, I think he'll be the DH."

Right fielder Bobby Abreu, who went 2 for 4 last night after entering the game just 3 for his last 21, needs to lighten up.

"He's trying too hard," said the manager. "He's a very proud guy. I know sometimes because the style with which he plays seems like it's not important to him but it's just the opposite. He's very tight right now. He's pressing trying to help this team. I don't think he's got that relaxed feeling at the plate that he's confident enough to get behind in the count. I told him we were sitting him Wednesday and maybe the offday [Thursday] clears the register a little bit."