MLB

Yankees’ Nunez exits with lower-leg injury

TORONTO — Robinson Cano has kept the second base position the one injury-free zone for the Yankees this season, but perhaps it was just a matter of time before that changed. With Cano already out of the game with a bruised hand after being hit by a pitch in the first inning, replacement Eduardo Nunez fell to the Rogers Centre turf in the eighth inning with a lower-leg injury.

After being observed by trainers for a few minutes, Nunez stayed in the game and led off the ninth with a single, but he was eventually removed for pinch-runner Lyle Overbay.

Nunez said he caught his right spike on a seam in the artificial surface and immediately feared the worst.

“I’ve never tweaked my knee before so that was something new,” Nunez said. “I knew it hurt and I thought I broke my knee. It was a lot of pain.”

Though Nunez’s right knee was still sore, Nunez said tests revealed no ligament or bone damage, so he hoped to play today.

Without Cano, who is day-to-day with a hand injury after X-rays were negative, Nunez is the only other natural second base option on the Yankee roster, though he has played one game at second over the last two seasons.

The Yankees had to resort to using corner infielder Mark Reynolds at second in the bottom of the ninth, and Reynolds would be the emergency option should Nunez not be able to play tonight. It was Reynolds’ third career game at second and his first appearance at the position since his 2007 rookie season.

* A day after Phil Hughes’ latest brutal start, manager Joe Girardi offered little insight as to whether the beleaguered right-hander would take his next turn in the Yankees’ starting rotation, which would be Sunday against the dangerous Orioles at Yankee Stadium.

“We’ll see,” Girardi said, before the Yankees’ 7-1 victory over the Blue Jays Tuesday night at Rogers Centre. “We’ll see how it goes.”

Hughes lasted just 4 2/3 innings Monday night in the Yankees’ 5-2 loss, allowing all five runs (four earned). In his last 19 starts, totaling 100 2/3 innings, the 27-year-old has a brutal 5.36 ERA. He has failed to complete five innings, the minimum requirement for a win, in eight of those starts.

Long reliever David Huff, who threw the final 3 1/3 innings Monday night after succeeding Hughes, is a candidate, though he might be needed prior to Sunday.

With tomorrow’s off day, the Yankees could skip Hughes’ turn in the rotation. The problem is the Bombers would prefer not to push their veteran starters — Hiroki Kuroda, Andy Pettitte, last night’s winner, and CC Sabathia — when they have an opportunity to give the trio an extra day off.

* The returns of Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter and the acquisition of Alfonso Soriano and Mark Reynolds have added some major right-handed bats to the Yankees roster.

Nevertheless, Vernon Wells is still a steady presence in the lineup whenever the Yankees face a left-handed pitcher. With lefty J.A. Happ starting for the Blue Jays, Wells was back in the lineup hitting seventh as the designated hitter and went 1-for-4 with a walk.

“My role is to start against lefties, so whether it’s at DH or in the outfield you’ve got to produce,” Wells said.

This is Wells’ 16th start as a DH in 2013, and 13th since June 28. Wells started just 29 games as a designated hitter in his 14 previous major league seasons. Some players have found the transition from fielder to DH difficult as they find it hard to focus on the game when they’re sitting for long stretches, but Wells (a former three-time Gold Glove winner) said he has no issue with the role change.

“I’m pretty chill anyways so it suits me just fine,” Wells said jokingly. “I don’t view it as anything different than playing a position. You’re in the lineup and you have to help your team whenever you’re in there.”

* Though Rodriguez and Jeter will play most of their games at third base and shortstop, respectively, Girardi said he will “basically check them every day” to make sure they’re fit and ready. If not, the manager will move one to the DH spot or perhaps even assign a full day out of the lineup in order to keep them fresh for the final month of the season.

It’s likely Rodriguez, Jeter and perhaps most of the Yankee veterans will get some DH time during an upcoming tough stretch of schedule. The Yankees play every day between Aug. 30 and Sept. 15 — a span of 17 games without an off-day.

“They don’t ever want to sit but I have to protect them,” Girardi said. “Coming up after [Thursday] we have a really long stretch and that’s when I’ll have to watch them as well.”