NEW YORK — For all of his home runs, All-Star accolades and huge paychecks, Alex Rodriguez finds himself in a most familiar spot.

A-Rod is an October lightning rod.

With every swing and miss, memories of his amazing run during the New York Yankees' championship season in 2009 fade. Instead, fans are becoming more and more vocal, calling for manager Joe Girardi to drop him from the No. 3 spot in the lineup.

Ex-Mariner Rodriguez struck out to end the Yankees' 3-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles in Game 2 of their American League Division Series Monday night, leaving the best-of-five matchup tied at 1.

He has fanned plenty of times — five in all while going 1 for 9 so far in the series.

"I feel fine at the plate," Rodriguez said after the loss. "I've just got to finish at-bats. I'm getting good swings."

He will have the chance to turn things around in Game 3 Wednesday.

After their train experienced an electrical outage and turned a usual 2-hour, 15-minute trip to New York into a five-hour journey, manager Joe Girardi was reluctant to address the Yankees' more pressing power problem Tuesday.

"I think that we're going to do whatever it takes to win this three-game series," Girardi said.

Note

• St. Louis' Chris Carpenter, 37, has a postseason record of 9-2 but had surgery in July and has pitched a mere 17 innings this season. He will start Game 3 Wednesday against the Washington Nationals in a NLDS that is tied at 1.

Edwin Jackson will start for the host Nats.