KANSAS CITY – Joe Torre said there is nothing physically wrong with Jason Giambi. The first baseman/DH’s stroke is another story.
“He is not swinging the bat as well as he would like,” Torre said of Giambi, who watched Wilson Betemit start at first base and Johnny Damon DH last night against Royals righty Brian Bannister. Both homered in an 11-5 Yanks rout. “But physically he is fine.”
Giambi is batting .210 (13-for-62) with five homers and seven RBIs since coming off the DL on Aug. 7.
“I am off a bit,” Giambi admitted. “I was red hot when I came back and was good for a couple of days. Then I faced [Justin] Verlander and [Josh] Beckett and lost it a little bit. I don’t feel I am that far off.”
In the first eight games in which Giambi appeared after a tendon problem in the left foot healed, he batted .346 (9-for-26) with three homers and four RBIs. Since then he is 4-for-36 (.111) with two homers and three RBIs.
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Mike Mussina doesn’t have a handle on what he will be able to contribute Wednesday night in Toronto.
“I have no idea,” Mussina said of what can be expected when he makes his first start (and second appearance) since Aug. 27. After getting spanked by the Tigers (six runs and nine hits in three innings), Mussina lost his rotation spot to 22-year-old Ian Kennedy. “My arm feels pretty good, but I haven’t pitched.”
Mussina, who is 8-10 with a 5.51 ERA, last worked on Sept. 3 when he relieved Roger Clemens against the Mariners. Mussina’s first-ever regular season relief effort resulted in a 32/3-inning stint in which he gave up two runs and seven hits.
Initially told this past Tuesday that he would start tomorrow and then told Wednesday he wouldn’t, Mussina has been trying to adapt.
“I can’t remember going to the park like this before, not knowing when I was going to pitch again,” Mussina said.
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The Yankees believed Clemens was going to test his balky right elbow yesterday in Houston, but after last night’s game, Torre hadn’t heard if that session was held.
“We have not heard he couldn’t,” Torre said of Clemens, who had a cortisone shot Wednesday to relieve the inflammation and is penciled in to start Sunday in Boston. “We don’t know.”
After Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was eliminated from the International League (Triple-A) playoffs yesterday, the Yankees promoted pitchers Kei Igawa, Jeff Karstens, Matt DeSalvo, Sean Henn and Ross Ohlendorf, as well as outfielder Bronson Sardinha.
Igawa, Henn and Ohlendorf will join the team today. Karstens will surface Tuesday in Toronto and it wasn’t known when DeSalvo and Sardinha will join the team.