Rodriguez thought this would be a different October. So far, it looks like all the others he's had in pinstripes.

Another hitless game and another loss could mark the end of his career as a Yankee — he can opt out of the final three years of his record $252 million, 10-year contract after the season.

A-Rod doesn't want to be remembered in the Big Apple as the "anti-Mr. October." He may have no choice.

The Yankees superstar went 0-for-4 and struck out three times yesterday as New York lost to Cleveland 2-1 in 11 innings, leaving them in an 0-2 deficit.

"A big win right now would take a lot of pressure off all of us," Rodriguez said. "Again, I know what I'm doing, I've just got to fix it."

The Indians travel to New York for Game 3 tomorrow night, looking for the first October sweep of the Yankees in 27 years.

Rodriguez, who hit .314 with 54 home runs and 156 RBIs during the season, is 0-for-6 in this playoff series. He is an inexplicable 4-for-47 (.085) with no RBIs in his last 14 postseason games.

The two-time AL MVP credited C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona for giving the Yankees a tough time in Game 1 and 2, and feels like he's doing all he can to snap out of his fall slump.

"I can't say that there was a pitch I missed tonight," Rodriguez said. "It would be a different story if I'm missing my pitches, then it would be a different frustration."

He is hitless in his last 28 postseason at-bats on the road. He had a chance to end the streak and drive in the go-ahead run with two outs in the ninth, but struck out against Carmona.

"Me personally, I helped him out a few times," Rodriguez said. "I've got to stop swinging at bad pitches."

Manager Joe Torre pointed out that the Yankees had three hits in 11 innings, and eight hits in two games total. So it isn't only Rodriguez who is struggling.

"You know, A-Rod's not the only one, you can't put it on A-Rod," Torre said. "Normally we're pretty good at manufacturing things, but not tonight."

Rodriguez's October troubles have mirrored the Yankees, who have lost five straight in the playoffs. They last trailed 0-2 in the postseason in the 2001 World Series. They responded in that series by winning three straight, but lost in seven games.

A-Rod's night at the plate went like this:

—He popped up on first pitch from Carmona in second inning. Second baseman Asdrubal Cabrera waved off his teammates and coasted out to short right field to make the catch.

—In the fourth, he was ahead 2-0, fouled one off, then waved at two sinkers and walked back to the dugout, leaving a runner at second.

—He struck out on three pitches with a runner on first in the seventh.

—His best at-bat came in the ninth, when he went down swinging in a nine-pitch at-bat against Carmona, leaving Bobby Abreu on second base. Carmona's last pitch was a sinker that dropped about a foot, down and outside, Rodriguez said.

"I was excited about the situation," Rodriguez said. "I thought I was the right man in the right spot."

The Yankees inability to hit the Indians left Rodriguez at a loss for an explanation.

New York was last swept 3-0 in the 1980 championship series against the Kansas City Royals. The Yankees have on been the losing side of a postseason sweep just four times in their storied history.

A-Rod and the Yankees need to start hitting to avoid a fifth sweep.