For the first time this season, Alex Rodriguez was not in the cleanup spot for the Yankees, as he hit fifth behind No. 4 hitter Jason Giambi.

The move actually came about by accident, not because of Rodriguez's recent 2-for-22 skid at the plate.

With Gary Sheffield healthy enough to start in right field for the first time since last Saturday, Torre told bench coach Lee Mazzilli to insert Sheffield back into his No. 3 spot in the lineup, dropping everybody else down one slot.

What Torre forgot to account for was that, while Sheffield had been out of the lineup, Giambi had been hitting third, followed by A-Rod and Hideki Matsui. When Mazzilli put Sheffield third, he moved Giambi to the cleanup spot, followed by A-Rod and Matsui.

"It was accidental," Torre said. "I didn't think about getting him out of the cleanup spot. That wasn't the purpose of it, but it looks more comfortable with the righty-lefty-righty-lefty."

Rodriguez didn't even know about the move until the middle of batting practice, at which time Torre realized he hadn't spoken with the third baseman, something he customarily does when he makes a change.

"It had nothing to do with Alex," Torre said. "I just had Sheff inserted and had him move everybody down. Alex is fine with it."

"I feel real comfortable between the two left-handers," Rodriguez said. "I think it's going to work out good. A little change of scenery doesn't hurt."

Rodriguez, who entered Friday hitting .250 with five home runs and 18 RBIs in 26 games, went 2-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs against the Rangers. A-Rod came to the plate with the bases loaded twice, driving in a run with a fielder's choice in the first and singling in two runs in the fourth.

"So much is made of the lineup, but no matter where you put somebody, you look and he's up with the bases loaded a couple of times," Torre said. "That was a huge base hit that knocked Padilla out of the game. That was a big hit for us at that point."

Torre said he would stick with the same lineup on Saturday, and Rodriguez had no problem with that plan.

"We present a problem for the opposition, going righty-lefty-righty-lefty," Rodriguez said. "It's going to present a lot of opportunities for me to do damage. Today, I came up with the bases loaded twice, and that's going to keep happening."

Hideki heating up: Matsui went 3-for-5 on Thursday night with a home run and a double, snapping a stretch of 77 at-bats without a homer.

Matsui, who had an RBI single in the 10th inning of Wednesday's game, appeared to be more comfortable at the plate over the past two days than he had been for about a week. Torre said he saw something in Matsui's at-bats on Wednesday that made him think he was ready to come out of his recent slump.

"Two days ago, I saw something that made me feel very confident that he was going to take himself on a little run," Torre said. "Whether it's a mini-run or a major run, I don't know."

Matsui watched some video with hitting coach Don Mattingly, picking out some mechanical flaws he had in his swing. He found himself lunging at the ball, so he worked on staying back and keeping his shoulder from flying open.

"Overall, the balance is probably much better now," Matsui said through his interpreter. "My mechanics are much better. Put it all together and I feel more comfortable."

Torre was impressed when Matsui pulled a pitch to right field on Thursday, keeping it fair for a home run. According to the manager, when Matsui's mechanics are out of whack, he usually pulls that ball foul.

"It's just balance," Torre said. "He looks like he's seeing the ball better."

Setting up for the Sox: Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina and Shawn Chacon will start the three games against Boston this week at Yankee Stadium, as the Yankees will skip Jaret Wright's next turn in the rotation.

Unlike the previous times this year when Wright has been skipped, the Yankees will not use him out of the bullpen unless it is in an emergency, allowing him to continue his work as if he was starting. Wright's next start will come on Saturday in the Bronx against the A's.

"We're going to try to keep him out of the bullpen, keep him with what he's doing now," Torre said. "When it's his turn to pitch, he'll pitch."

Coming up: The Yankees and Rangers play the middle game of their three-game set on Saturday, with Chacon taking on Kameron Loe. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET.

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.