Jason Farmer/The Scranton Times-Tribune, via Associated Press  Alex Rodriguez on Thursday. He didnât play Sunday and will return to Tampa for more rehabilitation.  But his return from off-season hip surgery took a detour Sunday when Rodriguez sat out his final rehabilitation game because of a tight left quadriceps. Instead of finishing his 20-game minor league stint on the field, he was sent to New York, where he had a magnetic resonance imaging test that revealed a Grade 1 strain, the least severe kind.  The Yankees said in a statement that Rodriguez would not meet the team in Texas and instead would return to Tampa, Fla., for rest and treatment. He will remain on the disabled list, although in its statement, the team said it might petition Major League Baseball to allow Rodriguez an additional rehabilitation assignment because this was a new injury.  The Yankees have had a difficult time getting their star players healthy this season. Derek Jeter returned from a twice-broken ankle July 11, only to appear in one game before returning to the disabled list with a right quadriceps strain. Curtis Granderson (broken hand) and Mark Teixeira (season-ending wrist surgery) also made brief returns before being reinjured.  Rodriguezâs stay with the RailRiders had started well. He hit a two-run homer Thursday, added two hits Friday and afterward said he was excited about potentially joining the Yankees on Monday. He told reporters he was still a few weeks away from being himself defensively. But he said he needed to play hard and reckless, without reservations, the way he would with the Yankees.  âI would do anything right now to be in Fenway playing some baseball,â he said Friday.  But then his left quadriceps felt tight Saturday morning. As a precaution, he was shifted to designated hitter from third base for Saturday nightâs game. He struck out three times, and after the game, he spoke softly as he answered questions, rubbing his face and resting his chin on his hand. He said that he hurt his quadriceps sliding Friday but that the same quad had bothered him last week and had since healed.  He was asked if he thought this setback would jeopardize his return. âI donât think so,â Rodriguez said. âIâm optimistic that Monday is our day.â  But his body language did not seem optimistic. So again, he was asked if his glum mood was because he might not be ready to return Monday.  âEven if Monday is in jeopardy, thereâs always Tuesday,â Rodriguez said. âYou know, itâs been a long road, and obviously â yeah, Iâm just down about it.â  Yankees Manager Joe Girardi said Sunday that he had exchanged text messages with Rodriguez before the results of the M.R.I. were in, and that he did not expect a significant delay to Rodriguezâs return.  How many more games this costs Rodriguez is uncertain, and his return is also clouded by an M.L.B. investigation into his involvement with an anti-aging clinic in Florida that has been accused of dispensing performance enhancing drugs. But Girardi and the Yankees are growing eager at the prospect of having Rodriguez back.  âI think weâre all anxious to see how he looks physically and how heâs moving,â Girardi said Sunday in Boston before the Yankees played the Red Sox. âWas this surgery as successful as the other one? The other one, he came back great and moved fine. I talked to people who said he ran good the other day. He ran good yesterday. But I am anxious to see him.â  So were the fans here Sunday. Several dozen of them, mostly children and men, had crowded down the third-base line about an hour before the game, hoping to see Rodriguez. They had baseballs, ticket stubs and programs for him to autograph.  One boy, Luke Mushensky, 16, kept glancing down the line toward the dugout.  âIâd rather him be healthy than reinjure himself, like Derek Jeter did,â Mushensky said.  Adam Bancroft, 42, agreed, saying he would rather miss seeing Rodriguez on Sunday if it meant Rodriguez would be back healthy with the Yankees, âwhere he belongs.â  About 30 minutes later Frank Menechino, a RailRiders coach, stopped to sign autographs. Then a mascot walked down the line and gave high-fives. A few minutes later, one boy turned and shouted, âA-Rodâs not coming out!â  His rehabilitation stint was over, cut short by a new injury. In 13 minor league games, Rodriguez hit .200, with 2 homers, 8 runs batted in and 12 strikeouts. Yet he would still be an improvement over the parade of players the Yankees have tried at third base this season. In 97 games, entering Sunday, Yankee third basemen had batted .223 with 4 home runs and 92 strikeouts.  Rodriguez was out of Moosic, his locker cleared out, his nameplate already removed. Unfortunately for the Yankees, his next stop will be Tampa, not Texas.  David Waldstein contributed reporting from Boston.
The return of Alex Rodriguez to the Yankees seems less certain after he skipped his final rehabilitation game to have tests on his ailing quadriceps.