After having their game rained out on Tuesday, the Yankees hit the diamond early on Wednesday for the first game of a doubleheader.  With many of their starters resting on the bench, the Yankees used a strong outing by Freddy Garcia and some timely hits to give them a 4-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

Garcia got into some trouble in the first inning, giving up a one out double to Brandon Phillips. Joey Votto worked a walk, but Garcia settled, striking out Jay Bruce before getting Scott Rolen to fly out to end the inning.

Mike Leake took the ball for the Reds, and the Yankees had him throwing lots of pitches early. Brett Gardner singled in the top of the third, and soon Leake not only was throwing a lot of pitches, but a lot of check throws to first as he tried to keep the Yankees’ speedy outfielder honest. Curtis Granderson grounded a single to right, moving Gardner to third. Nick Swisher followed by grounding out to first, while Votto tried to get Gardner at the plate, but the throw was too high for Ryan Hanigan to get the tag down.  Another run scored when Robinson Cano singled to left, giving the Pinstripes a 2-0 lead.

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Okay, now I’m angry. Speaking of his decision to guarantee Derek Jeter the leadoff spot upon his return from the disabled list and move Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner down the order, the Yankees’ manager said this:

“These guys have done a great job,’’ Girardi said Wednesday of Nick Swisher and Brett Gardner, who have batted leadoff since Jeter went on the disabled list June 14. “I will put him in the leadoff spot. He has been our leadoff hitter all year.’’

Of course, that isn’t even remotely true. The Yankees started the year with Jeter and Gardner sharing the leadoff role in a platoon situation, more or less the same thing they should be doing now, given Jeter’s severe platoon splits. But Gardner started the year in a bad slump and was moved down for performance reasons, with Curtis Granderson moving up to the top of the order.

As I outlined yesterday, Brett Gardner is one of the Yankees’ best players this year, and he’s become one of the best all around players in baseball as well. Yet Joe Girardi still has him playing in a somewhat supporting role in the regular lineup, hitting at the bottom of the order and, recently, sitting against left-handed pitchers. And via Ben Shpigel, Gardner doesn’t sound all that happy about it:

Girardi platooned them for the first two weeks — Jeter led off against left-handers, Gardner against right-handers — but abandoned that idea when Gardner began the season in a 6-for-40 slump. Jeter, who threw long toss Tuesday at the Yankees’ complex in Tampa, Fla., had been entrenched ever since before being injured June 13.

Yet over his last 50 games, Gardner has hit for a higher average than Robinson Cano, slugged better than Alex Rodriguez and is tied with Curtis Granderson for the highest on-base plus slugging percentage (.943) on the team. He hits well (.286) and gets on base (.390) against left-handers, but he rarely starts, benched for Andruw Jones, whose power potential Girardi prefers.

The Yankees, though, are scheduled to face right-handed starters for at least the next six games. When asked what he could do to change Girardi’s mind, Gardner said, “Hit .400 against them, I don’t know.”

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I think Rob Neyer is probably overstating the Yankees’ looming abundance of pitching once Phil Hughes returns, mostly because I don’t think Brian Gordon really belongs in that category and because everyone but C.C. Sabathia still makes me feel nervous that they could blow up at any time. Still, it does serve as a good counterweight to the prevailing assumptions of this entire season that the Yankees will be aggressively pursuing additional starters at the trade deadline. In fact, the Yankees’ starting rotation has been surprisingly strong this season, one of the leagues best.

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