NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez was scratched from the New York Yankees lineup Tuesday night because of a sprained left thumb, an injury he sustained during his first game back from knee surgery. The three-time AL MVP originally was set to bat fourth in the opener of a three-game series against Oakland. But after cutting short an early batting practice session, he decided his thumb was too sore to play. "It felt pretty painful," Rodriguez said. "Hopefully its just a day or two." X-rays were negative and the Yankees said Rodriguez was day to day. The third baseman hurt himself fielding a grounder Sunday at Minnesota, his first game since July 7. The AL East-leading Yankees were off Monday. Rodriguez, who hasnt homered since June 11, said Tuesday his knee was feeling good and he was available to pinch-hit. He showed off his slightly swollen thumb while standing near the indoor batting cages at Yankee Stadium, saying it was difficult to grip a bat and that it hurt most when he tried putting on his glove. Rodriguez went 0-for-5 on Sunday against the Twins, but Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he was impressed with A-Rods progress. "The one thing about Sunday, he wasnt fooled by one pitch," Girardi said. Girardi said he will check daily with Rodriguez to see how the knee is but he did not consult with him Tuesday when making out the initial lineup because the team was off Monday. "Itll be a day-by-day thing for a while," Girardi said. Pulling Rodriguez created a wholesale reorganizing of the Yankees lineup. Girardi inserted Eric Chavez at third base and had him bat seventh. And New York went with an order that was often used for much of the six weeks Rodriguez was out. Brett Gardner moved from ninth to first, and everyone else at the top moved down one slot. Jeter went to second, Curtis Granderson to third and Mark Teixeira moved into A-Rods cleanup spot. Designated hitter Jorge Posada moved down to eighth and Russell Martin to ninth. While hes disappointed with the thumb injury, Rodriguez was happy with his health overall. "The good news is the knee feels great, body feels good. Hopefully just a bump in the road," Rodriguez said. "The big picture is the most important thing." Rodriguez was hitting .290 with 13 homers and 52 RBIs in 349 plate appearances this season. Also, the slugger said he is scheduled to meet with Major League Baseball investigators Friday in Baltimore to discuss reports of his participation in illegal poker games. Toby Alderweireld Belgium Jersey . Chicagos current 10-game road trip took it to the Rogers Centre last night, a place where the White Sox had lost 12 of their previous 14 trips. However, they were able to break through last night in a tight 3-1 victory thanks to a pair of errors by the Blue Jays in the ninth inning. Zinedine Zidane France Jersey .C. -- Andrew Svoboda won the Chiquita Classic on Sunday, beating Will MacKenzie with a par on the first hole of a playoff in the second tournament in the four-event Web. http://... . Calgary recently posted an 0-2-2 mark on a winless four-game homestand. The Flames, who are just 12-14-7 as the guest this year, will visit Anaheim tomorrow to complete a brief two-game road trip. [url=http://www.authenticsoccers.com/fc-bayern-munich-marc-andre-ter-stegen-jers... Ter Stegen Bayern Munich . His ninth-inning grand slam couldnt have been bigger for the San Diego Padres on Thursday night. Amaristas first major league home run capped a six-run rally in the ninth inning off Houston closer Brett Myers and lifted the Padres to a 7-3 win over the Astros. .ca NFL Power Rankings, just ahead of the New England Patriots. Of course, having the Broncos and Patriots -- the top two seeds in the AFC -- at the top of the rankings conjures up a potential playoff matchup with Peyton Mannings Broncos facing Tom Bradys Patriots in the AFC Title game. CALGARY -- Evgeni Nabokov finally made his debut for the New York Islanders, eager to put the ugliness of last season behind him. In his first game in an Islander uniform, Nabokov stopped 15 of 16 shots in two periods of pre-season action as New York lost 2-0 to Calgary on Tuesday. "I liked him, I liked him a lot," said Islanders assistant coach Dean Chynoweth. "Our plan going in was to give him two periods and let Mikko (Koskinen) go in for the third. We probably could have left (Nabokov) in, hes champing at the bit to get going." Nabokov, 36, refused to play for New York last season after the Islanders claimed him on Jan. 22 off NHL re-entry waivers, thwarting the Detroit Red Wings attempt to sign him. The Islanders suspended Nabokov for the remainder of the 2010-11 season for refusing to report to the team. "With the situation that went on last year, the guy couldnt have come in with a better attitude so thats been really good," said Chynoweth. "Hes been really good all camp." Nabokov was a 44-game winner with the San Jose Sharks in 2009-10 before struggling most of last season in the KHL. He is competing for a roster spot with incumbent starter Rick DiPietro and rookie Al Montoya, who reeled off an impressive 9-5-5 finish last season after being recalled from the minors in mid-February. Nabokov says he hopes to be the Islanders starter when they open the season on Oct. 8 at home to Florida. "My goal is to be in the net, to get the call and go in and do my job. But sometimes its out of your control," Nabokov said. "In a perfect world, I would want to play more exhibition games but its such a short pre-season and they were six goalies here. Its not my call, Im just going out there and doing my best." At the other end of the ice 27-year-old Swede Henrik Karlsson was perfect, stopping all 13 shots he faced. With Calgary icing the more veteran line-up, the young kids on the Islanders found it difficult to generate much offence. When they did, Karlsson was there to shut the door. "Not much to do today, but you have to stay focused and play for 60 minutes," Karlsson said. The six-foot-five goaltender re-signed with Calgary during the summer after going 4-5-5 last year as Miikka Kiprusoffs backup in his first taste of the NHL. "It would have been fun to get a couple more shots, but the team played good," Karllsson said.dddddddddddd"Some games are like that and you have to manage to play good in those kind of games." The game-winning goal came at 4:10 of the second period on a nice short-handed goal by Curtis Glencross, who took a pretty pass from Matt Stajan as he streaked through the slot and tucked a backhand behind Nabokov. "Its starting to feel better every game and thats the goal in pre-season," said Glencross, who is coming off a career-high 24-goal season that earned the potential unrestricted free agent a new US$10.2-million, four-year contract. The Flames trio of Glencross, Olli Jokinen, and David Moss was the only line for either team comprised of regular NHL linemates, and their familiarity showed as they created several decent scoring chances. "Theyve put Ollie and I and Mosser together here early to get things going again like last year when we played together," Glencross said. Calgary added a second goal at 4:21 of the third period when Lee Stempniak finished a two-on-one with Alex Tanguay, taking a perfect set-up from the veteran playmaker and firing his second pre-season goal behind Koskinen. "It was a great pass. I had a lot of time to put it in. I love getting passes like that," said Stempniak, who was acquired from the Phoenix at the end of August in exchange for Daymond Langkow. "It feels good to score goals, especially in the pre-season to try and build something and get on a roll heading into the regular season." Calgary improved to 2-3-0 with one pre-season game remaining, Thursday night versus the Coyotes. New York, which was playing just its third game, fell to 1-2-0 with two games remaining in a shorter than normal five-game pre-season slate. Notes: The Islanders sat numerous regulars including forwards John Tavares, Michael Grabner, Matt Moulson, and Kyle Okposo... Former Flames defenceman Steve Staios played in his third straight game for the New York. The 38-year-old is in the Islanders camp on a tryout basis... Calgary RW Jarome Iginla (back) is still not back skating. RW Rene Bourque is also nursing a nagging injury and isnt likely to return to action until the season opener. Veteran C Brendan Morrison (off-season knee surgery) is skating but has not been cleared for contact. His availability for the start of the regular season is not yet known. 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