Actually playing only makes things worse for Alex Rodriguez

How long before Alex Rodriguez is sitting against southpaws, too?

Following back-to-back days on the bench because of consecutive matchups against right-handed starting pitchers, the $20 million part-time designated hitter went 0-for-3 with a meaningless sacrifice fly in his return to the lineup Tuesday night in The Bronx, striking out twice in the Yankees’ 7-1 loss to the Rangers.

Rodriguez entered the game batting .275 against lefties this season with a .837 OPS — he is hitting .200 with a .584 OPS against righties — but the soon-to-be 41-year-old watched his average against southpaws slide to .259 after an underwhelming evening against Texas’ Cole Hamels.

Still, the work ethic of the three-time MVP makes manager Joe Girardi believe Rodriguez can remain an offensive threat.

“He’s trying,” Girardi said. “If you could have [seen] him working [Tuesday morning], you’d have a better understanding as a manager what guys are trying to do. He was in the cage [at] 12 [a.m.], 1 [a.m.].

“I know he’s frustrated. We want him to produce, [but] I’m not discouraged.”

Rodriguez attempted to get off to a fast start, swinging on the first pitch of his first at-bat, but flied out to right field. In his next two appearances at the plate, Rodriguez looked increasingly helpless against Hamels, taking a third strike looking on a fastball over the middle in the third inning before going down swinging in the fifth.

Against lefty reliever Jake Diekman in the eighth inning, Rodriguez, now batting .219 this season, was credited with an RBI on a sacrifice fly, cutting the Rangers lead to 7-1.

Before to the game, Girardi said he believed Rodriguez’s health is not an issue.

“[From] everything that I watch, he is [healthy],” Girardi said. “He’s had no treatment. [There’s] nothing that tells me that he’s hurt. He hasn’t complained about anything.”

That only makes matters worse.

Yankees' Alex Rodriguez giddy after best game since 3-homer showing last July

The beautiful voice of Vin Scully calling a Dodgers game was booming loudly from a nearby clubhouse television late Saturday night as Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez smiled his way through a post-game interview.

The Yankees had just nearly blown one for the ages before hanging out for an 8-6 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

Even though a 7-0 lead through 6 ½ innings turned into 7-6 with six runs in and still nobody out in the Baltimore seventh, the Yankees hanging on allowed A-Rod to focus on the positives.

A-Rod loved seeing his team's offense take another step toward ending what's been more than two months of frustration by making it three five-or-more-runs games in succession for just the second time this season.

And he loved feeling like a big middle-of-the-lineup contributor again.

In five at-bats, A-Rod singled in the fourth, fifth and ninth innings for not only his first three-hit game as a 40-year-old, but his first in 89 games.

His last one had been his three-homer game in Minnesota last July 25.

This one was special, too, but his third hit brought in an insurance run that made it easier for Aroldis Chapman put away Baltimore by working a scoreless ninth.

This one also has A-Rod's average back to the Mendoza Line at an even .200 through 105 at-bats, just the fourth time all season he's been there.

"Something to build on," A-Rod said.

A-Rod was just starting to hit when he suffered a hamstring injury when the Yanks were in Baltimore in May, then after a 22-day DL stint, he looked bad again going 1-for-16 his first four games back.

But he's now hit safely in his last four, going 6-for-17 with a homer to raise his average 30 points.

Is A-Rod back to how he felt at the plate before his injury?

"I've been telling you guys all along I think the last 50 at-bats have been much better than the previous 50 and it's definitely something to build on," he said.

But there was a sizable layoff in the middle of the last 50, he was reminded.

"Yeah, but I feel like I figured out some things right before I got hurt," A-Rod shot back. "Then coming back it took me a few days to warm up, but overall I think I've been just a little bit more consistent."

A-Rod knows he still has a long ways to go to get his average back to respectability, but he's encouraged about his last few days and hopeful he's settling into a hot streak.

"I think overall my at-bats have been getting a little bit better, a little bit more consistent and I'm not trying to do as much at the plate," he said. "I've been working really hard down in the cage. I've been working on some mechanics stuff and overall I feel much better."