NEW YORK – Alex Rodriguez strode to the plate and the Yankee Stadium fans cheered as one, imploring him to deliver that elusive clutch hit.

Strike one. Strike two. Strike three.

Another missed chance for baseball’s $25 million man.

Rodriguez stood at the plate and removed his batting gloves after being frozen on Justin Verlander’s curveball in the first inning Thursday.

There were no boos, just groans when the New York Yankees’ big threat ended with a whimper.

The vaunted Yankees’ offense put up runs later, but not enough to put away the Tigers, who evened the best-of-five AL playoff series with a 4-3 victory.

Rodriguez went 0-for-4, including two other strikeouts that ended the fifth and eighth innings.

By the time his day was finished, he was hearing boos from the frustrated fans who came back to the big ballpark just hours after Game 2 was postponed by rain Wednesday night.

Rodriguez shook his head and flipped away his bat and helmet in further frustration with each successive out.

Try as he might to prove he is a true Yankee with championship mettle, his numbers continue to show otherwise. Rodriguez is 1-for-8 in the two games against Detroit and 5-for-40 in his last 11 postseason games.

A two-time MVP and 10-time All-Star, he has gone 10 straight playoff contests without an RBI.

A-Rod went a quiet 1-for-4 with a strikeout in New York’s series-opening 8-4 win on Tuesday night. He hit the ball hard, even on his outs, but had nothing to show for it.

Instead, he felt the shadow from shortstop envelop him, as it always seems to do. Derek Jeter put up a 5-for-5 night in the opener and heard all the chants of “M-V-P,” the very award Rodriguez won last season.

Even after his first-inning failure Thursday, the crowd didn’t turn on the third baseman.

He was met by lesser cheers for his next at-bat leading off the fourth. The Yankees were down by a run when Rodriguez blooped a ball to shallow left.

Just when it seemed a rally would start, Craig Monroe made a sliding catch to send him back to the dugout.

It turned out to be a three-run inning for New York, but Rodriguez was just a spectator to the theatrics.

Verlander caught him looking again in the fifth. Joel Zumaya got him to wave at a 1-2 pitch in the eighth.

His best moment came in the field during Detroit’s go-ahead uprising in the seventh.

Playing in to try to cut off an insurance run, Rodriguez snared a liner off the bat of Placido Polanco.